Chasing Ghosts
by Throwaway9989
Summary: Overwatch has been successfully reformed, and the Petras Act has been repealed. Talon was defeated during the events in Cairo a few years prior, but new intel suggests that their remnants could be planning something in Paris. John, Lena, and McCree head to investigate, revealing some surprising truths about the organization's motives. Sequel to 'What Makes a Hero' (Story Complete)
1. Welcome to Paris

John groaned as he stepped out of the taxi, stretching his limbs into the air. Lena walked over to his side, giggling at his display, her smaller frame wasn't cramped during the ride. He pulled her close to him with his right arm, ruffling her hair with a laugh. He and Lena had gotten quite close during their time together in Overwatch, their ambiguous relationship had blossomed into a full romance after the events in Cairo. Though John could've stayed anywhere in the world after he was promoted to Strike-Commander, he chose to return to London with Lena, it was where their adventure began, after all. They entered the building before them, it was an older hotel with extravagantly detailed furniture and architecture. John glanced at the desk, a young man was standing behind it, wearing a black suit and tie. Lena was turning her head to examine the room, fascinated by the intricate carvings and patterns that filled it. John chuckled as he watched her, even after all their time together she hadn't changed a bit, still full of that same child-like wonder. He walked over to the desk, the employee looked up with a smile at him.

"Good morning, sir! How can I help you?" The man spoke, he was enthusiastic yet restrained, not wanting to come off as too eager.

"I'm here to check in, the reservation should be under Hudson." John felt odd using his last name, he'd never put much thought into it, but he never seemed to tell anyone his full name.

"Ah, here you are!" The man spoke, glancing at the screen in front of him. He presented John with a pair of metallic rectangles, "Here are your keys, your room is number 54, just head up the elevator and take a left." He pointed past John to the two elevators on the opposite side of the room, their golden doors just as detailed as the room they resided in.

"Thanks." John replied, taking the keys into his hands and pulling Lena over to the elevators. "Here's you key, try not to lose it." John smirked, handing her one of the keys.

"You are just the worst!" Lena laughed, playfully punching John's shoulder. John winced in pain as the hit connected, holding his shoulder with his free hand. "Oh! Are you okay, luv?" Concern filled Lena's voice, hoping she didn't injure John. He let out a laugh as he removed his hand.

"Only if you kiss it." He chuckled, entering the elevator that had arrived. Lena had proven to be a good influence on John, she managed to open him up in ways he didn't think he'd be able to. When he was living in London alone he quiet, reserved, a loner, but his time with Lena changed him. Her unflinching positivity and warmth had rubbed off on him, he wasn't the same man he was when he first rejoined Overwatch, that much was certain. The couple exited the elevator, taking a left as the man at the desk instructed. "Here we go." John spoke, stopping outside of room 54. He pressed the key to the lock, a green light blinked and the door split open, revealing the room inside. There was a large king bed, the framing was made of rich mahognay wood, with detailed designs carved into it, with a satin set of cloth covering everything on top of the frame. Two grand couches sat facing each other, their golden covers were covered in intricate patterns, a granite topped table sat between them. The walls of the room were covered in paintings, though the furniture was classical, the paintings were much more abstract. The wall opposite the door was covered in windows, letting in the light of the morning sun.

"Wow, really pulling out all the stops for me, eh luv?" Lena giggled as she walked over to the bed, flopping down onto it. John chuckled as he walked into the bathroom, the counters were made of marble as was the bathtub, a separate glass shower stood with a window peering into the winding Paris streets. He returned to the main room, joining Lena on the bed.

"Only the best, I've got a reputation to uphold. After all, I am the Strike-Commander." John laughed, running his right hand through Lena's hair. They laid together for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company. John let out a deep sigh as he pushed himself off the bed, "As much as I enjoy this, we've got a job to do." Lena sat up and folded her arms, pouting her lips as she stared at him. "Don't give me that look, I know you're just waiting for me to take you out on the town." John joked, hoisting Lena into the air before pulling her into a hug. The couple laughed as they embraced, sharing a quick kiss before they separated. "Work first, pleasure later, Miss Oxton." John whispered, making his way to the door of the room.

"You bloody tease." Lena giggled as she followed him down the hall, blinking to his side. He pulled her close as the made their way back onto the elevator and to the streets below.

"I can't reveal all my tricks at once, where's the fun in that?" He chuckled as they left the hotel lobby. "There's a scene that the police want us to investigate, apparently they believe it's Widowmaker, and Winston agrees." John spoke as they made their way down the street. "It's nice to be able to flex that Overwatch muscle, no more hiding with the Petras Act repealed. It's nice to be able to openly help again." John mused, admiring the French architecture, he had spent most of the past years in London with Lena, not having much time to explore the world. She nodded and laid her head onto him, she would've kept fighting as a hero even if the UN didn't help them. The couple stopped in front of a large office building, a small black car was parked outside, the employees had been given the day off. John opened the glass door for Lena, allowing her to enter the large lobby first, a man sat at the desk in the center of the room. He looked up as the two entered, standing from his chair.

"You must be John." The man extended his hand to John.

"I am." John replied, firmly shaking the man's hand. "This is Lena, she'll be giving me a hand today." He pointed to the woman at his side, the man extended his hand to her.

"Nice to meet you!" She chimed, shaking the man's hand eagerly.

"Well, I'm sure you know why you're here. Please follow me up to the office." The man lead the two to the elevators behind the desk, pressing the button for the top floor. The elevator shot up through the shaft, John stared out the glass window as they rose, the streets of Paris shrinking as they ascended. "This is it." The man spoke as the elevator slowed, the doors opened as it stopped. A small desk sat before them with a door off to the side, the man opened the door revealing a large office. A massive desk sat before the window, a large executive chair was seated behind it. A pair of smaller chairs was placed in front of the desk, along with a small couch on the side wall. A bar lined the final wall of the room, stocked with various liquors. "The coroner has already begun to examine the body, but no one else has touched the scene since the assassination." The man slowly spoke, before leaving the room. "Take as long as you need, I will be in the lobby." John let out a sigh as he walked over to the window, closely examining it. A small hole was present in the glass, a shot had passed through and killed whoever was sitting in the large chair behind the desk. John panned the horizon for where the shooter could have been located, there were only a handful of buildings that met the height criteria. The angle of the hole in the glass indicated that the shooter had been directly behind the chair, which eliminated all but one building.

"There." John pointed to a large skyscraper across the park, the size of the building dwarfed the one they were in. The name Binary Helix was printed on the top of the building in silver letters. "Did you happen to catch what floor number this is, Lena?" John turned to look at her, she was glancing around the room for anything that looked suspicious.

"Yeah, 44." She replied, meeting John's gaze. "You think Widow fired from that building?" John nodded, letting out a sigh.

"I do, and there isn't anyone I think is capable of this shot other than her. Too many variables for wind and air resistance for an inexperienced sniper, this is too calculated." He made his way back to the elevator, Lena close behind, before pressing the button to call the elevator. John sighed as the elevator slowed, "Let's hope the guys at Binary Helix are as polite as these ones, I'd hate for things to get physical." He pulled Lena close as they left the elevator, waving to the guard as they passed. "We've found what we need, thanks for letting us check it out." He stopped before he opened the door, turning back to the guard. "How did you know my name? I don't believe I ever told you over the phone when I called." He took his arm off Lena, slowly lowering it to his side. The guard's eyes grew wide in shock, as he slowly stood up, reaching underneath the desk. John drew his pistol, firing a shot into the man's shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground. He walked over, glancing quickly underneath the desk, a rifle had been placed where a keyboard would go. "Sneaky trick, shame it didn't work." John grunted as he stepped on the arm of the man. He pulled the jacket of the man open, a small emblem fell out as he did so. It held a logo similar to that of Talon, though it was slightly modified and colored purple. "So, Widow is a part of this." John sighed as he picked up the emblem, carefully examining it before placing it into his pocket. He held his pistol by the barrel, quickly slamming it into the head of the guard, incapacitating him. "Well then," He sighed, looking at Lena, "I guess we're getting physical."


	2. Binary Helix

John searched the pockets of the unconscious guard, hoping to find the keys to the vehicle outside. Within a matter of seconds he located the keys, throwing them to Lena. "You drive, I'll shoot." John didn't expect anyone to follow them to Binary Helix, but it never hurts to be safe. The two sat down inside the car, Lena inserted the key and started the ignition. "Just gotta get to Binary Helix in one piece, easy, right?" He joked, smiling at Lena, who returned it with one of her own. Lena pulled the car out of the roundabout, entering the street at the end, it would take only a couple minutes to get across the park. John held his pistol in his right hand, the prosthetic was particularly useful for absorbing recoil, he could fire smaller weapons with the one hand, leaving his other free. Lena glanced into the rear view mirror, keeping an eye out for any Talon remnants that were tailing them.

"We've got company, luv! Two cars, coming up fast!" Lena spoke, keeping her form as low as possible to avoid being hit by the inevitable shots to come. John slammed his right elbow into the window, shattering it into pieces, leaning out to get a clear shot at the cars.

"I miss when cars had tires, it was a lot easier to get them off the road!" John yelled, the wind roaring in his face. He fired several shots at the windshield of the first car, shattering it into pieces, the car wildly swerved off the road, stopping only after colliding with a cement barrier. He turned his sights to the other car, ducking back inside as they returned fire. "You have any pulse bombs on you?" John asked, turning to Lena. She nodded, grabbing one from her back, placing it in his hand.

"Press the big button, then throw!" She yelled, attempting to avoid as much gunfire as possible. John nodded, the rear windshield shattered from the hail of gunfire. He leaned back out the window, pressing the button in the center of the bomb before lobbing it towards the car, it landed on the hood with a satisfying thunk. The passengers of the car rolled out, the uncontrolled vehicle crashed into a tree before the bomb detonated, becoming a burning pile of metal. "I don't think this car is going to make it there, luv!" Lena shouted, the car had begun to sputter, and a large amount of smoke was flowing from the engine.

"Pull over, we're close enough." John spoke, reloading his pistol. Lena obliged, bringing the car to a stop just off the road, several civilians stared at the scene. John and Lena emerged from the vehicle, they were only a few short blocks from the Binary Helix building. "Get ready for a fight, I don't think they'll just let us waltz in." John grimly joked, brandishing his pistol. Lena let out a small laugh, withdrawing her two machine pistols. The two jogged through the park, carefully surveying their surroundings to avoid an ambush, they would have to cross a bridge in order to get to the Binary Helix building. John sighed as he examined the walkway, it was the perfect spot for an ambush. It offered little in the way of cover, and there were only the two exits. "Well, I don't think we have much of a choice." John begrudgingly spoke, glancing over at Lena. "Think you can blink ahead and cover the front? I'll watch the rear." Lena nodded, taking point as they reached the bridge. Lena rapidly blinked across, standing at the other end of the bridge, John cautiously began his walk, carefully eyeing the scenery. As if on queue, once John reached the center of the bridge, the Talon remnants began their assault. John hit the ground, going prone to avoid as much fire as possible, the low railings of the bridge would keep him somewhat safe from shots to his sides. He fired back at the agents who would walk within his sightlines, slowly crawling backwards to meet up with Lena. He was suddenly grabbed by a pair of hands before he was teleported to the other end of the bridge, Lena stood next to him with a smile.

"I figured this was easier, luv, didn't want to one-up your big plan!" She laughed, returning fire at the other side of the bridge. John chuckled, firing at the remnants alongside her, having powers was certainly nice, not that he'd know. They had dealt with the agents on the other side of the bridge, but reinforcements were on their way. The two hunkered down behind a small wall, preparing for the flow of new soldiers. They could hear the sound of footsteps approaching, eventually stopping not far from their cover, they were waiting for something. Suddenly, 6 shots rang out in the park, leaving nothing but silence. The two looked at each other, wondering what happened, when the sound of spurs broke the silence.

"If this is what you two have been doing without me, maybe I should've come to London." A familiar voice spoke, his southern drawl filling the air. The pair laughed as they stood up, none other than Jesse McCree stood before them, a cigar lit in his mouth.

"Well, you know me, I can't help but get into trouble." John laughed, embracing his friend.

"We had it under control." Lena joked, hugging the cowboy. McCree let out a hearty laugh, releasing the embrace.

"Yeah, you sure looked in control, 6 on 2 aren't terrible odds." He flashed a quick smirk, then turned towards the Binary Helix building. "So, I assume you're heading there? I saw a lot of troops in there on my way, we're gonna be walking straight into a fortress."

"Oh come on, we've beaten worse, right?" John laughed, beginning to walk towards the building. McCree let out a dry chuckle, exhaling smoke as he did so. The trio made their way up the stairs at the end of the park, standing in the Binary Helix Plaza. Small pieces of cover littered the landscape, apparently Talon was ready for a fight, but there wasn't a single soldier in sight.

"I don't like this…" McCree muttered, surveying the landscape.

"Do you always have to be so negative?" John joked, his focus was on the entrance of the building ahead. The entrance looked like it was destroyed in some sort of explosion, John let out a deep sigh as he remembered his encounter in Australia. "Please tell me it's not going to be _those_ two."

"I'm the negative one?" McCree laughed, making his way towards the ruined entrance. He rubbed a finger along the scorched ground, carefully examining it. "Well, the good news is they're long gone, the bad news is it's definitely them." Junkrat and Roadhog, they hadn't had a run in with them since their mission in Australia, though he suspected they'd meet again.

"You think he remembers that I punched him in the face?" John chuckled, he and Lena joined McCree in the doorway. McCree flashed a quick smirk before nodding to his friend. "Great." John muttered, he had hoped that his suspicions would be wrong, he wasn't a fan of fighting someone obsessed with explosions. John called the elevator, pressing the button for floor 44, the same as the floor in the other building. Upon exiting the elevator, the three scanned the floor, it was a more open office plan than the previous, housing many small cubicles. Searching the room, they found the optimal spot to fire from, the desk looked unused, almost as if it had recently been replaced. John let out a sigh as he examined the cubicle, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, even the hole the bullet would've left had been repaired. "Well shit, looks like there's nothing here of use."

"So you're saying that we're at a dead end?" McCree asked, taking a drag of his cigar.

"I didn't say that, we have a bit more intel that we can use. We know that Widowmaker always targets prominent figures, and though she's never in one place for long, if she had left Paris we would've known about it. We just need to figure out a list of important people in Paris who she'd want to kill-." John was interrupted, the screen on the computer showed a message. _I can help you get her, but only if you help me. - S._ "What the fuck?" John questioned, before he began typing on the keyboard. "Who is this?" John responded, _Someone with the information you want, and who isn't fond of our mutual friend. You scratch my back, I scratch yours._ John sighed as he read the message, people like this never wanted anything simple. "What do you want?" He typed, _I need you to take care of a little loose end for me, those two brutes destroyed the server room but I know of a backup in the basement, I need you to head down there and connect me in, I can't get onto the backup until it's taken out of lock-down._ John sighed, at least it was in the same building. "How do we unlock it?" He wrote, _Just head down and flip some switches until the lights turn green, it's easy. Once that's done I'll send you her next target, but the rest is up to you._ "Deal."

"So, we're just going to trust the mysterious computer that typed to us." McCree questioned, glancing between Lena and John.

"Well, unless you really want to make that list of suspects she could hit, yeah." John chuckled, making his way back to the elevator, the three entered and he pressed the button for the basement. Inside the dimly late basement was a black, unlabeled door. John slowly pushed it open, revealing a large server covered in red lights. "Okay, so we just hit switches until it's green, easy peasy." John laughed, beginning to flick switches at random. Nothing seemed to change until Lena called out to him.

"I found a button that says reset, want me to press it?" She asked.

"Can't hurt, right?" John yelled back, Lena pressed the button in, releasing it after a couple of seconds. The room went dark for a few moments before the lights returned, the server was now covered in green lights. John felt his communicator buzz in his pocket, he withdrew it and glanced at the screen. _Good work, Commander, maybe I'll use you for more jobs. ;) But back to business, she's going to hit someone named Richard Mays, big airline mogul or something. He's supposed to be staying at the Plaza Hotel downtown, better move fast._ "Shit." John muttered, "We're heading to the Plaza Hotel downtown, apparently her next target is there."


	3. Rooftop Rumble

John let out a sigh as they walked back through the park, downtown wasn't too far from the Binary Helix building. "You know, just once I'd like to take a vacation and not get shot at." John laughed, wrapping his arm around Lena. "Though I suppose, in a weird way, we can consider getting shot at a date." Lena let out a small giggle before punching John's shoulder.

"Hardly, luv. I expect you to take me somewhere nice after this is done." The pair laughed, McCree was trailing behind, enjoying the flavor of his cigar.

"Well, I'm glad to see you two have been well. I'm had a nice break, thanks for asking." The cowboy let out a laugh, exhaling smoke as he did so.

"I would've asked, but I figured you'd find a way to spin your time into a nice story. I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed, Jesse." John laughed, smirking at his friend. McCree shook his head and took another drag of the cigar, slowly letting the smoke billow out of his mouth.

"I'm not much of a story-teller sober, but get some whiskey in me and I'll spin anything." The trio laughed, it had been some time since they all had a drink together. They spoke to one another over their break, though they hadn't been present in one place in many years. The last time they all had a drink together was back in Gibraltar, before they even knew about Cairo.

"I'll take you somewhere nice, cowboy, but you're paying." John chuckled, earning a small grunt from McCree. The trio had left the park, the spires of the downtown skyscrapes pierced the clouds above. Most of the building were made of a mixture of glass and metal, no one wanted to work in a building that didn't look good, and no company wanted to seem behind the times. Walking through the streets they passed a large amount of both humans and omnics, things had changed since the assassination of Mondatta in King's Row. The wounds had begun to heal, largely due to the influence Overwatch had on promoting equality around the world. The discovery of Talon's influence on the Anubis God AI eased the tensions between the two species, learning that at least some of the omnics didn't willingly attack humans was a small comfort to humans unsure of their metallic counterparts. The trio came to a stop outside a building, it was dwarfed by the skyscrapers surrounding it, which gave ample opportunities for a clever sniper to fire inside. "This is it." John sighed, opening the door to the lobby, letting Lena and McCree enter before him. He walked over to the front desk, leaning onto it with his prosthetic arm. "Hey, I'm looking for a Richard Mays, is he staying here?" The attendant behind the desk glared up at John before he spoke.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot give out information on any guests." He spoke, slowly examining John before his gaze returned to the monitor in front of him.

"Well then, let's try it this way." John sighed, removing a badge from his jacket pocket. The small sheet of metal bore the Overwatch logo, they had become an international task force of sorts after the repeal of the Petras Act. People needed heroes, and Overwatch would give them some hope back. The attendant looked back up from the monitor with a sigh.

"Oh, so you're a little hero, fine." Contempt laced the words he spoke, "Mister Mays is in room 902, I assume you know how to use an elevator?" John sighed as he put the badge back into his pocket.

"Nice talking with you, too. Come on, we know what room he's in." The trio entered an elevator, pressing the button for the ninth floor.

"Lotta places for a sniper to shoot from, let's hope there's not many windows." McCree sighed, staring out the window at the back of the elevator.

"There's that negativity again, we gotta work on that, Jesse." John chuckled, placing his hands into his jean pockets. "You alright?" He glanced towards Lena, she had been unusually quiet during this trip. She looked up and nodded at him, a small smile on her face. "Nervous about seeing her again? You're going to do great, besides, you have the best pair of shooters in Overwatch with you!" John laughed, removing his right hand from his pocket to run it through Lena's hair. She let out a small giggle before leaning into him, wrapping one arm around him. The elevator came to a halt at the ninth floor, the doors slowly opened to reveal the large hallway. They made their way down the corridor, pausing outside room 902. The door was shut, John lightly knocked on the door to enter, though no sounds could be heard inside. John knocked again, harder this time, maybe the resident hadn't heard him, there was still no response. John sighed, taking a step back from the door, before he glanced down at the handle of the door. He lifted one leg into the air, slamming it with as much force as he could near the handle of the door, leaning his weight into his foot as it connected. The door flew open, slamming into the wall with a loud crash, small chunks of wood had flown onto the ground. John carefully examined the dark room, the blind had been drawn shut, but there were signs of a struggle. The bedding was thrown to the side, a glass had been knocked off the table, and the rug had been pushed askew. John pulled the blinds aside, a large hole had been cut into the glass, certainly large enough for a person to fit through. Peering outside, he glanced down at the street far below, a shoe had flown by his head down below. John turned his attention to the roof, a figure could be seen struggling before dragged out of sight. "Lena, roof!" John yelled, prepared to drop out of the window. "Jesse, meet us up there!" John grabbed onto Lena as they leapt out of the window, rapidly blinking up to the roof. "Never get used to that." John joked, pushing himself off the concrete of the roof. The figure had begun to run across the rooftops, still carrying their hostage away from John and Lena. "Go! I'll catch up, just stall them!" John shouted, beginning to sprint after the figure. Lena blinked after the suspect, drawing her weapons as she drew closer. The suspect was still ahead of her, John examined the rooftop for a way to cut them off. A large gap separated John from a point ahead of them, he would have to jump if he wanted to get ahead. "Oh, fuck me!" John shouted, leaping towards the opposite rooftop. He slammed into the side of the building, managing to barely grip the ledge with his right hand. He pulled himself up, heavily panting as he brought himself to his feet. "I hate this job." He sighed, turning to face the suspect. John drew his pistol, aiming it at the figure, he and Lena had cornered them. The rooftop was suddenly buffeted by wind, the light of a Talon dropship fell onto the standoff, illuminating the area. The figure before them was none other than Widowmaker, and her hostage was Richard Mays. "Why are you taking this one alive? You didn't seem too keen on the other one!" John shouted, trying to speak over the sound of the dropship above them. Widowmaker let out a laugh, tightening her grip on Mays.

"I need this one alive, I'm more concerned with who told you I was here!" She chuckled, lifting one hand into the air. "I'll deal with that later, adieu-" She was interrupted as Lena tackled her to the ground, the two tumbled to the side of the roof. John pulled Mays towards him, motioning for him to stay put, before running over to Lena. The two women continued to fight, rolling precariously close to the ledge of the roof, before they began to roll off the side. John slid forward, hoping to grab them before they went over the ledge. The pair dropped off, John flew off the side and held onto the ledge with his right hand, grabbing the collar of Lena's jacket with his left, she held onto Widowmaker to prevent her escape. "Well, isn't this sweet, glad to see you found someone, cherie." Widowmaker laughed, slamming her head into Lena to break free. As she dropped to the street below she once again extended her hand above her, the grappling hook she wore attaching itself to the Talon dropship. She was pulled into the ship, which took off away from the building. John grunted as he pulled himself and Lena back onto the roof, his prosthetic was putting out as much power as it could. Once back on the roof he let out a deep sigh, glancing over at Lena. She had blood on her face from Widowmaker's attack, though she didn't seem to notice. He turned his gaze back to Mays, who had stayed where John told him too, McCree had caught up and was guarding the hostage.

"You know," John began, his gaze on McCree, "You could've helped pull us up." He let out a dry laugh, before he began to pant again. He heard the cowboy chuckle as the sound of spurs grew louder, his view of the night sky had been obstructed by his friend's rugged face.

"You looked like you had it under control, besides, I figured it was your turn to be the hero." McCree chuckled, extending a hand down to John, who accepted it. John was pulled to his feet by McCree before he extended his own hand down to Lena, pulling her to her feet.

"Well, as fun as this was, let's go ahead and call it a night." John chuckled, removing the glove from his right hand. "Here, you got a little something." John motioned to his face, offering the glove to Lena, who accepted it. She rubbed the cloth on her face, removing as much blood as she could. John turned his attention to Mays, who was cowering on the ground. "Don't worry, we're Overwatch. Do you have any idea what she wanted you for?" John calmly spoke, attempting to soothe the distraught man.

"No, I haven't done anything that would bring the attention of people like _that_." Mays replied, shaking his head. "The only thing I could think of would be the military contracts my company gets, nothing else would be of value to them."

"What kinds of contracts?" John questioned.

"Mostly standard aircraft work, we occasionally get work to develop some prototype shuttles, but nothing major." Mays spoke, thanking McCree as he helped him to his feet.

"Anything unusual on any of those shuttles? Cloaking tech, new weapons, anything?" John questioned, desperate for a lead on the assassin.

Mays was deep in thought for a few moments before he spoke again. "There was one shuttle that had prototype cloaking tech, though we couldn't get it to properly work without diverting massive amounts of power from other systems, it just isn't practical."

"Well, I imagine that's what she wanted. Cloaking tech like that in their possession would be disastrous. A shuttle that can make itself completely invisible is a useful tool to an assassin, let's hope there's no way to put that stuff into armor." John sighed, turning his gaze back to Mays, who averted his eyes. "There is no way to get that into armor, right?"

"Well, not exactly, but our partners over at Conatix had expressed interest in our prototype. If there's anyone who could make that technology work, it would be them. They have a building on the edge of the city, I can give them a call to tell them you're coming." Mays nervously spoke, he was unsure of if he should be giving out this information, but was happy to still be alive.

John let out a deep sigh, turning his gaze back on the stars above them. "Yeah, tell them we'll be there tomorrow morning." He turned to face Lena, who offered him his glove back, the outside had small amounts of blood on it. Lena's face had been mostly cleaned, though a small amount of blood still remained below her nostril. John placed the glove into his jacket pocket, wrapping his right arm around Lena. "I think it's time we get some rest, can that drink wait until tomorrow, Jesse?" John heard a deep chuckle from his friend, who merely nodded before he waved goodbye. "We'll meet up at the Conatix building tomorrow morning, don't be late cowgirl!" John shouted, running his hand through Lena's hair. He turned to meet Lena's hazel eyes, flashing a smirk at her, "Now, about that date."


	4. Winter Streets

John adjusted his eyes to the dim lights of the hotel room, the blinds had been drawn shut, only a sliver of light entered through the small gap between the two ends. He sat up and groggily rubbed his eyes, hoping to speed up the adjustment. He sighed as he looked over at Lena, she looked so peaceful in her sleep, you wouldn't expect her to be so energetic if you only saw her like this. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand, it read 6:30, before he lowered himself back into bed. What happened after the encounter on the rooftop was hazy, mostly due to the exhaustion of the day. He remembered walking back to the hotel with Lena, getting back to the room and having a drink together. It had been an intimate night, in more ways than one. John rolled onto his side, facing the sleeping Lena, the faint glow of her accelerator could be seen through the covers, the dim blue light illuminated the bottom of her face. He smiled, reaching around her with his right arm and pulled her close to him, her warmth was immediately noticeable to him. She fidgeted slightly as he pulled her in, emitting a small groan, but appeared to still be asleep. John nuzzled his face close to her hair, exhaling as he shut his eyes, allowing sleep to claim him once more. The sound of rushing water slowly awoke John, he moved his right arm to grab Lena, but she wasn't there. He rolled over in the bed, facing towards the bathroom, light could be seen through the gap at the bottom of the door. With a sigh, he placed his right arm over his eyes, hoping to glean a couple more minutes of sleep before Lena inevitably awakened him. He peaked one eye out from underneath his arm to glance at the clock, it was 8:00. John noticed that the sounds of the shower had stopped, he could hear fabric rustling around behind the door, before it slowly opened. Lena appeared from behind the door, being as quiet as she could to not wake John, she was wearing a pair of black boyshorts along with a gray sweater. She walked over to the side of the bed, running her hand through John's hair, he quietly groaned, pulling the covers over him. Lena emitted a giggle before walking over to the dresser.

"Good morning, luv." She cooed, hoping to coax John out of bed.

"Don't make me get up…" John sighed, hoping to stay underneath the warm covers. Lena laughed as she finished getting dressed, before returning to the side of the bed. She quickly pulled the covers off of John, who glared at her. "Really?" He groaned, using his arms to prop himself up. Lena had thrown on a pair of blue jeans, white canvas shoes, and a large green jacket, much like what she wore the first time John met her at his flat. John pushed himself out of bed and towards the bathroom, "You're lucky you're cute, or I'd still be in bed." he chuckled, closing the door behind him. The cold frost of winter had covered the window of the bathroom, the dim light of the morning sun was gently reflecting off of it. Small traces of steam were still visible in the room, "At least it will warm up fast." John groaned as he turned the shower on. He had placed a pair of briefs and a thermal turtleneck in the bathroom the previous night, not wanting to rummage through his clothes in the early hours of the morning. Stepping into the warm shower, John let out a sigh of relief, the water helped relax him after last night's mission and… other activities. He thoroughly rinsed his hair, allowing its texture to return, before eventually stepping back onto the cold tiles of the bathroom. He glanced at himself in the mirror as he dried off, he hadn't aged much since the events in Cairo, though his stubble had grown thicker than he usually let it. His eyes moved to his shoulder, spotting a small hickey, he chuckled as he threw on his clothes, returning to the main room. Lena had left his gray jacket on the bed, along with a pair of khaki jeans and black sneakers. "Thanks, Lena." John chuckled, as he stepped into the jeans, "You forgot the socks though." A small object hit the side of his head, accompanied by a giggle from the couch, he glanced down to find the socks at his feet. He gave a thumbs-up to Lena as he slipped on the socks, placing his feet into the sneakers before weaving his arms through the sleeves of the jacket. "Coffee first, Conatix later?" John questioned, making his way towards the pistol he left on the coffee table. Lena nodded as she made her way to the door, tossing John the holster to his weapon, which he strapped around his right leg. He joined Lena by the door, wrapping his right arm around her in typical fashion, ready to wander into the cold winter streets of Paris.

"You know, I really miss Gibraltar's weather, at least it was only ever cold at night." John sighed, his words creating small clouds of fog in front of his mouth. Lena let out a giggle, leaning in closer to him.

"Am I not warm enough for you, luv?" She laughed, her hazel eyes staring up at John.

"Only if you stay that close, Miss Oxton." John laughed, his green eyes glancing down at hers before focusing ahead of him. He glanced at the sign above a building down the street, it read Joe's Star Coffee, a little bland of a name, but at least he knew they spoke English. John pulled Lena into the cafe, eager to escape the cold outside, the interior of the cafe was immediately warmer than the street. Small tables were scattered around the room, with a large counter at the wall opposite the couple. John examined the board above the counter as he walked closer, there were certainly some eccentrically named beverages. Speedwagon, Killer Queen, Morioh-cho, John's examination of the board was interrupted by the man behind the counter.

"Good morning, what can I get you?" He questioned, eager to serve his customers.

"I'll take the Hierophant, anything for you, Lena?" John turned to the woman at his side.

"I'd like the Temperance." She replied. John handed the man his card, which he inserted into the machine before removing it, giving it back to John.

"They'll be ready in just a couple minutes, feel free to take a seat!" The man spoke, making his way to the ingredients behind him. The couple sat down at a table by the window, enjoying the view of the street outside. People walked past the cafe, each one at a different pace, each one had their own story. John let out a sigh as he glanced back towards Lena, her eyes focused on the hustle and bustle of the people on the street.

"You know," He began, bringing Lena's attention to him, "We might have to bring Conatix's tech back to Gibraltar so we can reverse engineer it." John let out a chuckle as he saw Lena's eyes widen, a smile formed on her face. "And before you ask, yes, we'll spend some time with Winston there." The scientist had been one of their closest friends on Gibraltar, Lena had known him long before she ever met John, they were even partners after Overwatch was first shut down. Two cups were placed on the table they sat at, the owner of the restaurant nodded and smiled as he returned to the counter. John took a sip of his drink, the slight mints flavors within helped dull the intensity of the coffee's heat. He could feel the warm liquid make its way through his body, this would do wonders in the cold weather. Lena took a sip of her drink, it had small hints of chocolate in it, along with a splash of caramel. John stood up from the table, looking down at Lena, "You ready to go meet Jesse?" he asked, making his way to the nearby door. Lena nodded, joining him by the door. John held the drink in his left hand, wrapping his right arm around Lena as they stepped back out into the cold winter air. The Conatix building wasn't more than a few blocks from the cafe, John took a swig of his drink, hoping to counter the bite of the cold air. The couple passed by several stores and restaurants, Lena peered into the windows, looking for anything that caught her eye. John chuckled as he looked down at her, "I'll take you into one after we finish up at Conatix," he leaned his mouth close to her ear, "Pleasure later, right Lena?" She glanced up at him with a blush on her face, John flashed a quick smirk before he ran his hand through her hair. Try as he might, he could never seem to change her hair from its spiky state, the strands always went back to their original position, as if nothing had happened. His eyes turned skyward, the sun was blocked by the thick clouds of winter, he wished for the sun's warmth to help him, but the coffee would have to do. They had reached the Conatix building, a massive spire of steel and glass constructed into an angular form, a large plaza surrounded the building. A familiar figure sat on a bench in the plaza, small amounts of smoke flowed from underneath his hat. John chuckled as they neared the man, McCree's face peered up from the hat, a smile on his face.

"It's about time you lovebirds made it, I was worried you stood me up." He chuckled, standing up from the bench.

"Do you ever wear anything normal, Jesse? The cowboy shtick definitely forfeits any subtlety." John laughed, his friend had only ever worn variations of his trademark outfit since they met, he doubted that the man owned any normal clothes.

"It's called style, you could learn a thing or two about it." McCree laughed, turning towards the entrance of the building. John sighed as he made his way towards the door, holding it open for Lena but stepping inside before McCree had entered, a smirk on his face. The cowboy extinguished his cigar, throwing it into a nearby trash bin, before opening the door for himself and joining his friends inside.


	5. Corporate Secrets

John took another sip of his coffee, draining the last remnants of the beverage from the cup, dropping it into a nearby trash bin. Lena did the same, neither of them wanted to carry around a coffee cup in case things got messy, though they didn't expect any combat, it never hurt to be safe. A man in a black suit walked up to the group, extending his hand as he neared them.

"Ah, hello, you must be the guests our friend Mr. Mays told us about." The man shook the trio's hands, motioning for them to follow him. They stepped into an elevator, going up several floors, before getting off and finding themselves in a small lobby with a glass door. The man pressed a combination of buttons on the door, opening it to reveal the large laboratory behind it. There were groups of scientists gathered around small pieces of equipment, attempting to make the cloaking technology adapt to a variety of different substances and shapes, hoping to solve the issue of its energy consumption. "This is where we've been expanding on the work that Mays began. It's easier to get the cloaking to properly work on something small, it takes significantly less power than something like a shuttle. We've managed to find a few groups that are interested in the prototype, though I'm not at liberty to say who they are."

"Well, if you haven't managed to perfect this tech, I think we can help one another." John spoke, the man focused intently on his words. "We can get our R&D to help you, but we need to know who you've agreed to send prototypes to." John placed his hands into his pockets, carefully watching the small experiments going on around the room.

The man let out a deep sigh, "As beneficial as that deal sounds, I'm afraid we cannot reveal our clients, and I'm sure our R&D team will be more than sufficient to figure out this technology." John glanced down at his communicator, sending a message to the person from the previous night. _They said no to my deal, what do you need me to do to get you in their system? - J_ , he turned back to the man with a smile, "Well, I'll let the offer stand. Are we allowed to explore the laboratory?" The man nodded, making his way out of the room.

"Feel free to ask our team any questions you have, they'll answer them to the best of their ability." The door shut behind the man, leaving the trio. John's communicator buzzed, _Find anything that looks like it would connect to the server and stay by it with your communicator, I'll try and bounce in off of it. - S._ John chuckled as he glanced around the room, Lena and McCree were both searching for any information they could find, his eyes settled on a terminal on the far wall. A few scientists were gathered nearby, they appeared to be fitting the cloaking tech onto some sort of armor piece. John made his way over to them, staring intently at the armor as it flickered in and out of view. He placed his communicator in his rear pocket, placing his back towards the terminal to get his ally as close as possible. One of the scientists looked up at John, he hadn't been expecting company.

"May I help you, sir?" The man questioned, he wore a pair of small glasses on the bridge of his nose, a bushy moustache was just above his lip.

"Have you tried using alternating currents to keep the power consumption from becoming too much for the armor to handle?" John hoped his words made sense, he hadn't the slightest idea if what he said made any sense to the scientist. The man stared at John, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, he appeared to be deep in thought. A look of surprise covered his face, he began to whisper to his colleagues about what John had said, perhaps he did give them an idea. The armor piece faded completely from view, not returning for several seconds, John reached into his pocket as he felt his communicator buzzed. _I'm in, I can buy you a few minutes to grab that tech and get out, better be fast hero. I'll send you the info when you're out, but I want that tech as payment. - S._ John chuckled as he read the message, glancing over at a nearby security camera, a small pink light glinted from within it. Suddenly, a large noise emitted from the nearby terminal, and the power within the room shut down. John quickly grabbed the armor piece from its casing, able to find it through touch despite the room being pitch black. A dim red light emitted from the door, the scientists all began to quickly walk towards it. The trio followed, they were participating in some sort of evacuation procedure. "Jesse," John whispered, tapping his elbow into his friend's rib, "Put this under your hat, trust me." He placed the piece of armor in McCree's hand, who managed to slip it under his hat in the darkness. The group made their way down the stairs and back to the lobby, many other employees had gathered within it.

"Don't worry, this appears to have been a slight mechanical malfunction, you may all return to your posts!" The man from earlier shouted, dispersing the crowd. He walked up to John, a stern look on his face. "I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel this tour, we must deal with more pressing matters. We'll give you a small pat-down, purely standard procedure, and then you may leave at your convenience." John nodded, spreading his arms and legs to allow the man to frisk him. His hands rubbed along his legs, searching for anything out of the ordinary, doing the same to his arms and chest. "Please turn." He spoke, John complied, maintaining his stance while spinning his body to allow the man access to the other half. The man nodded to John as he removed his hands, moving over to do the same to Lena and McCree. Lena had unzipped her jacket to reveal her accelerator, not wanting them to think she was sneaking something out. John felt a tinge of anger as he watched the man frisk Lena, he seemed to spend a lot more time frisking her than he did him. McCree let out a cough, noticing the same things John did, the man quickly finished on Lena and moved to him, his pace was much faster on the cowboy. A small smile was on his face as he stood up, "Feel free to come back anytime, have a nice day!" The man quickly walked back to the elevators and disappeared, the trio made their way outside of the building and away from the plaza it was housed on.

"Did I see a bit of jealousy on your face, luv?" Lena joked, turning to John, he blushed and averted his gaze. "Maybe you could try it later." Lena whispered into his ear, causing the blush on his face to intensify, she giggled as she pulled her mouth away.

McCree let out another cough, presenting the small piece of armor that John had stolen from the laboratory. "So, what exactly are we doing with this?" He placed the armor into John's hand, lighting a fresh cigar with his free hand.

"We're making a trade with someone, intel for intel." John sighed, hoping his face wasn't as red as it felt. He felt his communicator buzz and reached into his pocket, _Good work, meet me in the park by Binary Helix. - S._ "And now, we head to the park by Binary Helix to collect." John placed the armor piece into his jacket pocket, placing his hands into his jean pockets. "You coming, Jesse?" John looked over to his friend, who had begun walking away.

"Nah, I'm gonna see how the local bar scene is, I'll give you a shout if I find something good." McCree chuckled, waving to the couple as he departed down the street.

"Might have to take you up on that." John muttered, walking with Lena in the opposite direction.

"So, who's your source, luv?" Lena questioned, her eyes full of that childlike wonder. "Is it some secret hacker, some privileged Strike-Commander intel?" Lena joked, leaning her head onto his shoulder.

"Something like that." John chuckled, removing his left hand from his jacket to wrap it around her. "Truth is, I have no idea who this person is, we both just happened to have something the other wanted." John let out a sigh, watching his breath float away into the sky, the clouds were still hanging over the city. The couple walked over a small bridge into the park, a lone figure sat on a bench, wearing a purple jacket. The figure glanced up at them, discreetly motioning them over. The figure was a woman of Hispanic ancestry, one side of her head was shaved, the long hair on the rest of her head flowed over onto the other side of her head.

"Hola, Commander." The woman spoke, letting out a small laugh after she mentioned John's rank. "You got the stuff?" John nodded, removing the piece of armor from his pocket, handing it to the woman. "Very nice, I'll find a way to make this work. Well, time to keep my part of the bargain." She handed John a file from her jacket. "This has all the meetings that Conatix set up about their stealth tech, couple of field demonstrations in there. I marked the one that she'll be at, thanks for the help, hero." The woman laughed as she walked away, disappearing around a corner.

"And that was my source." John laughed, placing the file into his jacket, Lena let out a small giggle.

"Seems like a real charmer, luv." John wrapped his arm around Lena as they made their way out of the park.

"Now, I'll take you to one of those restaurants we passed by, I think our work-day is over-" John was interrupted by the buzz of his communicator. _Found a place I think you'd like, sending over the address now. - Jesse._ John chuckled as he held the device up to Lena. "Sound like fun to you?" He asked, Lena enthusiastically nodded, it was time for them to relax.


	6. Liquid Courage

John and Lena entered the dimly lit bar, the sounds of glasses clinking and people laughing echoed throughout the room. John's eyes scanned for his friend, noticing a man surrounded by women, one of whom was wearing a cowboy hat. McCree sat at the center of the women, he was quite visibly intoxicated, his night started a bit early. John laughed as he and Lena made their way to the bar, preferring to not interfere with their friend's night of debauchery. He sat on a stool and leaned onto the bar with his right arm, the black metal contrasting with the wooden counter. He glanced around the room to get an idea of the aesthetics, he hadn't noticed when he walked in, but this was the spinning image of an old western bar. Tables were scattered around the room, glasses hung from above the bar, there was even a man playing the piano in the corner, a small tip jar sat at his side. Lena hoisted herself onto the stool, her small frame didn't look quite as smooth as John's when she attempted to lean on the counter. John laughed as he attempted to get the attention of the bartender, "Why don't we start off with something easy, Oxton." He joked, earning a small giggle from Lena.

"You're on!" She replied, her eyes full of enthusiasm. John waved the bartender down, ordering a couple shots of rum to begin the night. John grabbed a shot with his right hand, holding the glass near Lena for a toast.

"Think you can keep up, fly-girl?" He chuckled, he hadn't known Lena when she was a pilot, but he was fond of using nicknames for her. She clinked her glass with his, the two then downed their shots, Lena emitted a sound of disgust. "Not bad, Oxton, but the night's just getting started." John laughed, grabbing a fresh shot of rum before downing it in a single sip. Lena did the same, she was faster than John at most things, but he had learned to handle his drink with McCree. The couple finished off the rum shots, a slight blush began to tinge their faces. John waved the bartender down again, ordering a couple shots of vodka, it was his step up from rum. "Let's see how you handle a real drink." John chuckled as the bartender returned, placing the shots on the counter. John lifted a glass of vodka, offering it to Lena for another toast, she clinked her glass with his as the both down the drink. Lena coughed after she swallowed the drink, John shook his head to dull the effects of the drink. They each grabbed another shot of vodka, downing them simultaneously, the blush on their faces had intensified. "Well done, Lena…" John's speech had begun to slur, his words came out slowly, he attempted to flag the bartender down again. "Now for the final drink, whiskey. Get me the finest fucking whiskey you've got!" John shouted to the bartender, Lena laughed at his display. The bartender returned with several shots of whiskey, placing them before the couple. John slid his card to the man with a nod, wanting to pay before he was completely out of commission. He brought his glass into the air once again, Lena clinked hers against his for the final time, and they both downed their first shot of the brown liquid. John emitted a sound of disgust this time, even he had never gotten accustomed to the taste of whiskey, Lena groaned as she lifted up another shot. "That's the spirit, Oxton!" John slurred, picking up his own glass before downing it immediately. He wildly shook his head as the liquid flowed through his body. The blue light of Lena's accelerator illuminated her face, striking an odd contrast with the redness of her blush. "Fuck pacing, this is how you're supposed to drink!" John laughed, glancing over at Lena. Her blush on her face was quite prominent, and John assumed his face was the same way, he let out a small chuckle as he pulled Lena closer to him. "Have I ever told you… How fucking pretty you are?" John spoke, attempting to put as much emphasis on the words as he could in his drunken state. His green eyes pierced into Lena's hazel orbs, the two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. They pulled into a quick kiss, their red faces mere inches from one another. Lena leant close to John's ear, gently biting the lobe and pulling before releasing it, John emitted a slight moan.

"Pleasure now, luv." Lena cooed as she pulled herself away from him. John slowly stood up from the stool, glancing over at McCree. The cowboy had been abandoned by his fans, he laid face down on the table with his hat sitting next to him, he could be heard snoring from the counter. John plucked the hat from the table, placing it onto Lena's head. John laughed, pulling Lena close as they exited the bar. They walked down the street, their bodies unable to feel the cold winter air. McCree had chosen a bar not too far from their hotel, though John attributed it to the cowboy's notable luck. The couple leaned onto each other for support, the effects of the alcohol were increasing as time went on, and the quantity they drank wasn't helping matters. They reached the block their hotel was on, John pushed his face into Lena's hair, nuzzling her as they drunkenly stumbled into the lobby. The couple stepped onto the elevator, luckily they were they only two on board. Lena leaned on the side of the cabin, emitting a deep sigh. John placed his arms on both sides of her, trapping her against the wall, as he leaned in close to her face. Lena's breath had gotten shallow, their eyes peered deeply into each other.

"I love you…" John whispered, pushing his lips against Lena's, he tasted hints of vanilla and sugar as he pressed his lips against hers. He couldn't remember if he'd ever said those words to her before, but it didn't matter, all that did was this moment. John released his kiss, moving his head slightly away from Lena's, their eye contact never breaking. Lena threw her arms around John as she pushed into a kiss, John sloppily returned her advance, practically falling out of the open doors of the elevator. They stumbled their way to the room, not stopping even as John clumsily slammed the key against the sensor. They pushed their way through the door, letting it slam shut behind them, before they fell onto the bed, allowing the night of passion to take them.

John groaned as he opened his eyes, his head pounded as he adjusted to the light of the room. His clothes were thrown all over the room, and it seemed as though Lena's were as well. He slowly rolled over, refusing the day's welcoming embrace, he'd prefer to sleep this hangover off. Lena was cuddled up close to him, her chest slowing rising and falling as she laid there. John pulled himself closer to her, bringing his face just behind her ear, before slightly nibbling it. Lena moaned as he released his bit, "Just returning the favor," John whispered, nuzzling his head into her hair. He laid there for a long time, never once looking at the clock or falling asleep, just enjoying the moment with Lena, she had taught him that during their time together. John was too focused on the past and the future before he rejoined Overwatch, he never had time to experience the present, his insecurities and worries clogged his mind, but with Lena he felt at peace, he felt happy, he felt loved. A noise from the nightstand pulled him back into reality, his communicator buzzed along the wooden top. He considered just ignoring it, before reluctantly grabbing it. Where is my hat? - McCree. The screen shone into his eyes, he chuckled as he glanced around the room, McCree's hat was lying on the coffee table. I may have stolen it. - John. He tossed the communicator onto the couch, turning back to Lena, he didn't want to leave the bed, but the day wouldn't wait for them. With a groan he pushed himself into the bathroom, desperately hoping the shower wouldn't kill him. He turned on the water before moving back to the sink, pulling out some advil from his travel pack. He filled a glass with water to help him swallow the pills, hoping they would alleviate the headache. He stepped into the shower, the warm water felt divine as it ran over his body, it might have been the best shower he'd ever had. He stood there, just letting the water rinse him off, before he slowly filled his hair with shampoo, the medicine had at least dulled the pain. After he felt sufficiently clean, John stepped out of the shower to dry off, throwing on a black t-shirt and boxers. He made his way to the couch, several messages from McCree about his hat flashed on the screen, he chuckled as he examined the file that his source had given him in the park. The field test that Widowmaker would be present at didn't begin for another three hours, giving him plenty of time to recuperate from last night. He let out a sigh as he lowered himself back into bed, pulling Lena close once again, she groaned as he moved her. "Good morning, beautiful." He whispered, not wanting to cause a headache.

"Good morning…" Lena muttered, slowly opening her eyes as she turned to face John. The dim light of her hazel eyes peeked from between her eyelids, she wasn't facing the morning much better than John did. "Did you mean what you said last night, luv?" Lena questioned, staring into his green orbs. John paused for a moment, thinking back to the moment in the elevator, before letting out a small sigh.

"Does this answer your question?." He whispered, pushing his face closer to Lena's. She smiled as he approached, sharing a quick kiss before separating.

"I love you too."


	7. Bleeding Out

John sat on the couch, looking over the rest of the file his source had given him. Lena was in the shower, they had another two hours before they needed to be at the field test. They were planning on showing off a small set of armor that had potential with the cloaking tech, it lasted much longer than on any previous sets they tried. One name stood out to John, _Anderson_ , he had worked with an Anderson during his time as a grunt in Overwatch, though it seemed to be a common enough name. John had never cared much for the man, he always seemed too happy when a mission went wrong, he would've been a prime candidate for Blackwatch if he wasn't such a sloppy soldier. He'd left him and the rest of his squad behind in Afghanistan, and part of him hoped that none of them made it out of Overwatch's collapse, but he knew that some would survive. His communicator buzzed, McCree was still desperate for his hat, John sighed as he picked up the device to respond. _Don't worry, I'll bring it to you when we meet up for the field test. It honestly looks better on me. - John_. There was a long pause between his message and McCree's response, what he didn't expect was the unrelenting flow of profanity that the cowboy used. John laughed as he sat the communicator down, glancing at the cowboy hat on the table. The ends of the hat were frayed, a few tears could be spotted around the center, and there were some poor attempts at sewing a few holes, that hat was almost as old as Overwatch. John chuckled as he placed it on his head, making the shape of a gun with his right fingers, "Reach for the sky." He chuckled, pointing his fingers at an imaginary criminal. Stifled laughter brought his attention behind him, Lena was covering her mouth, her cheeks were puffed up from trying to contain herself, John immediately felt his face redden. Lena couldn't hold it in anymore, bursting into laughter at the sight of Cowboy John, who merely stood there, unable to decide how he should proceed. "I… uh…" He nervously stammered, slowly placing the hat back onto the table. Lena was now rolling on the bed laughing, she had never once expected to see John doing an, admittedly accurate, impression of McCree, the cowboy shtick did not work well for John. He sheepishly slumped back onto the couch, hoping the cushions would swallow him whole, the only sound he could hear was Lena's boisterous laughter.

"Oh my god…" Lena slowly began to speak, finally getting a hand on her laughter. "I don't even know what to say, are you sure you don't want to date Jesse?" Her laughter picked back up again, she relished in teasing John, she knew he loved Western movies almost as much as McCree, but this was completely foreign. "I mean, not that it isn't adorable, but luv, leave the cowboy stuff to him." Lena laughed, making her way over to John, he had slumped as far as he possibly could on the couch, unable to be seen from behind it. His face was redder than Lena had ever seen it, even the alcohol hadn't brought out this much of a blush. "Don't worry," She whispered into his ear, "I'll keep your little secret from Jesse." John wished he was dead, this embarrassment was worse than losing his arm, maybe he could just run back to London and forget this ever happened. "But…" Lena playfully whispered into his ear, "Cowboys are pretty cute…" She ran a hand through his hair, giggling as she made her way to change. John sat on the couch, just vacantly staring in front of him, he wished he hadn't put on that hat. Lena pulled him off of the couch and to the door, "Come on partner, we gotta return that hat." She laughed, placing the hat onto her own head. John let out a painful groan as they stepped out of the room, maybe Widowmaker could just shoot him as he left the building. A black suv sat outside of the hotel, honking at them as they exited. McCree sat in the driver's seat, a serious look on his face. He rolled down the window to speak to the couple.

"Give me the hat, then you can sit in the back seats." He sternly spoke, he never joked about his precious hat. John sighed as he plucked the hat from Lena's head, handing it through the open window to McCree, who quickly placed it back on himself. "Much better, now hop in, lovebirds." McCree chuckled, his demeanor instantly changing back to his joking self one reunited with his hat. John opened the door for Lena, allowing her to slide behind McCree, before hopping into the vehicle himself. "So, what's the plan?" McCree asked as he pulled the car out from the curb.

"Well, I figure there's two ways we can do this. We go in guns blazing, lots of people get shot but it looks really cool. Or, we try it a little sneakier, I disguise myself as a guard while you two give me cover, then start a firefight so I can grab the tech and get out." McCree gave a thumbs-up, indicating that he'd appreciate the stealthy approach. "Figured you'd like that." John chuckled, staring out the window as the drove to the field test, "I sure hope nothing annoying happens." John rolled down the window, lighting a cigarette before glancing over to Lena. She held a stern look on her face, prompting a chuckle from John. "Hey, I never said I'd stop, I just smoke very rarely now." Lena giggled before she playfully punched John's shoulder, "Let's hope this goes well." John sighed, deeply inhaling the cigarette as Paris faded away behind them. The car pulled up to a quarry, a couple of guards could be seen at the entrance. McCree parked the car by the entrance, he and Lena stayed inside as John hopped out. He made his way up to the guards, attempting to appear as nonthreatening as possible.

"Sir, this quarry is off limits, we're going to have to ask you to leave." The first guard spoke, both of their weapons were holstered on their backs.

"I was afraid you were going to say something like that…" John sighed, quickly hopping over the barrier to the guard. He quickly swept his leg, sending the guard to the ground. The second guard tried to draw his weapon, but John was faster. He punched the guard in the stomach, quickly moving behind him to knock him out. The guard on the ground was scrambling to his feet, trying to grab his communicator to inform the team within the quarry. "Should've stayed down." John sighed, grabbing the man and slamming his head into the small entrance shack. John waved to his comrades in the car and began to remove the uniform of one of the guards. "That looks like it's my size." John muttered, dragging the two unconscious men into the shack before shutting the door. "Don't I just look the part?" John joked, turning to face Lena and McCree. "I'm going to get close to the tech, you guys will start shooting, I'll grab it and we'll meet back at the car. Easy, right?" John nervously chuckled, met with nods from his comrades. "Great, I'll go on ahead, try not to shoot me, Jesse." John laughed as he grabbed a rifle from the ground and jogged further into the quarry. Thankfully the guards were wearing balaclavas, so he wouldn't have to worry about Widowmaker recognizing him. There was a group of people at the center of the quarry, intently watching a set of armor that was connected to a portable terminal. John made his way to the group, Widowmaker's cold stare greeted him.

"You're late." She spoke, John felt his blood run cold, "Is the quarry secure?" John nodded, trying not to speak in case she recognized his voice. "You may proceed with the test." Widowmaker spoke into her wrist, a man by the terminal pressed a few buttons, causing the armor to disappear from sight. Widowmaker coldly grunted as she watched the test, focusing more on how long it could remain cloaked instead of the ability to do so. A shot rang out in the quarry, hitting the guard next to John, _Little close for comfort, Jesse._ The guards began to scramble, Widowmaker stared at John. "You! Grab the terminal, we're leaving!" A talon dropship hovered overhead, which Widowmaker grappled onto for a better view of the battle. John grabbed the terminal, sprinting back to the car, desperately hoping that Lena and McCree were taking care of anyone who noticed him. He quickly glanced back to see Lena blinking into the dropship, hoping to divert Widowmaker's attention. John nearly ran into the car, swinging the back door open and pushing the terminal inside, shutting the door with a sigh.

"Did you think I wouldn't remember you, John?" A voice spoke, John glanced in the reflection of the car window to see a man with a scarred face staring at him, brandishing a knife.

"Anderson." John coldly spoke, turning around to meet his former comrade's gaze. As he turned, Anderson lunged forward, jamming the knife into John's left shoulder, before drawing a pistol and firing a round into John's side. John yelped in pain as the knife plunged deeper into his shoulder, all he had to do was buy time until Lena and McCree got back. "Good to see you too…" John muttered, small amounts of blood trickling from his mouth. A sneer crossed Anderson's face, his eyes showed his pure delight in the situation.

"You always did lack the drive to finish the mission, it's why you left us all in Afghanistan. Did you think that rejoining would clean you of your past, that it would redeem you? You're a killer, John, just like I am." Anderson's words cut deep into John, almost dulling the pain of the knife.

"I carry what I did with me every day, not a moment goes by where I don't mourn the lives I destroyed. But here you stand, relishing in the killing, in the bloodshed. I may be a killer, Anderson, but at least I'm not a monster like you." John spat blood onto the man's cheek, who calmly wiped it off before pressing the knife deeper.

"When I'm done with you, I'll go take care of your little friends. Maybe we'll do to them what we did to Amelie…" John glared up at the man, he was so focused on the torture he could inflict that he didn't notice John withdraw a knife from the side of his left boot. "Tracer would make a prime subject…" Anderson slowly spoke, gently wiggling the knife in John's shoulder. John punched Anderson's face with his right hand, quickly grabbing him as he fell to the ground. He slowly dragged his own knife across the man's face, his eyes filled with fear, he pushed the knife in John's shoulder further, though he didn't feel it. Rage had blinded John, he wasn't about to let someone hurt his family, not while he still lived. He shoved his knife into Anderson's throat, blood gushed from the wound, forming a pool at his feel.

"How does it feel, Anderson? To have all sensation leave your body other than the agonizing pain of the blade in your throat. To have your lungs desperately try and breathe, hoping to draw some amount of oxygen from the blood flooding them…" John sighed as he slumped against the car, smearing blood against it as he fell to the ground. Anderson had fallen on his side, desperately trying to remove the blade in his throat, the only sounds he could emit were sickening gurgles as he drowned. "Maybe you're right, Anderson, I am a killer, but at least I'm not dead." _Not yet, at least._ John turned his gaze towards the sky, letting out a sickening cough, blood continued to trickle from his mouth. His breathing became shallow as he stared at the clouds, their shapes were becoming hard to identify. He clutched his side in pain, wincing as he looked at his blood-caked hand. _So, this is it, huh?_ He thought, hoping to see Lena one more time before it was over. John shut his eyes, trying to save whatever strength still remained, trying to hold on as long as possible, he faintly heard the sound of footsteps approaching as he drifted away.


	8. Still Kicking

"Oh fuck!" McCree shouted as he sprinted to the car. A man was lying dead in a pool of blood, John was slumped against the side of the car with a knife in his shoulder and flood pooling from a wound in his side. "Lena, get to the car now!" McCree shouted, pressing his finger into his ear to speak with her. He laid John on his side, opening the door to move the terminal to the front passenger seat. He gently lifted John into the back seats, laying him across to give him as much room as he could. He turned as he heard the sound of Lena blinking to him.

"What's the matter, luv-" She stopped as she looked past McCree into the car, John's chest faintly rising and falling as he struggled to breathe. She blinked into the car, laying John's head on her lap as McCree hopped into the driver's seat, peeling out away from the quarry.

"Keep him breathing, we can get him to a hospital, it's all going to work out." McCree shouted, the steering wheel strained under his grip, he tried to stay strong for Lena's sake. The woman sat wordlessly in the back seat, slowing running her hand through John's hair, muttering something to herself as she stared down at him. Small tears formed in her eyes, the occasional drop landing on John. She had wrapped her jacket around his stomach, hoping to stop the bleeding from his wound, the knife in the shoulder was the least of their concerns. McCree floored the accelerator as he weaved through the streets back to Paris, there wasn't a second to waste. He shakily grabbed his communicator out of his pocket, tapping the screen to call someone. "Doc, we need you in Paris now, no time for questions just get here!" He shouted, tossing the communicator to the passenger seat before gripping the steering wheel once again. They pulled in front of a hospital, parking halfway on the sidewalk, John's breathing had gotten even more shallow, his chest barely moved as he struggled to draw breath. "Give me a hand!" McCree shouted, opening the door of the car as a pair of orderlies rolled a gurney out. Lena and McCree gently placed John onto the padding, he let out a small grunt as they began to roll him into the hospital. Lena held his hand at they rolled him further inside, his eyes faintly opened as they crossed into the emergency room. He couldn't make out any specific shapes or sounds, it was all just noise to him, he couldn't feel much of anything. He glanced to his side, able to faintly make out the shape of Lena's hair. He was hooked up to a heart rate monitor as the surgeons began to look at him. There was substantial bleeding from the wound in his side, and the punctured shoulder wasn't helping him. John slowly tried to breathe as a mask was put over his face, he felt a stinging pain in his chest. There wasn't time to use anesthetics, the surgeon had begun to plug the wound with him still conscious, he'd scream if he could. The pain in his chest intensified, his eyes began to lose all focus, Lena… The haunting chime of the heart rate monitor echoed throughout the room, Lena and McCree were forced to watch through a window, tears in their eyes.

"He's going into cardiac arrest, clear!" The surgeon shouted, shocking John with two paddles. The chime of the monitor didn't change, a flat line scrolled across the screen. "Clear!" The surgeon shouted, shocking John again, still no change. "CLEAR!" John violently convulsed as he was shocked, coughing loudly into the mask he wore. The surgeon threw the paddles aside, focusing his attention on stopping the bleeding in his side. The nurse injected something into John's neck, and he felt sleep claim him.

"Open fire on the Omnics, that's an order!" John walked into the shattered building at the heart of the compound, slowly opening the door of the dim room. He fired a shot into the head of the single Omnic inside, the hostages were huddled in a corner, crouched down to avoid being shot. John reached down to a woman, looking down into her eyes as he extended his hand. Her blue eyes pierced his soul, a look of raw hatred resonated within his soul. John heard his name being called, and he turned to face the light streaming in from the door. He walked back out to his comrades, expecting they realized what they had done too. One of his squadmates was missing, though he didn't know why. John screamed as he awoke, looking around him. He was in a hospital bed, an IV tube was stuck into his arm, bandages had been wrapped around his shoulder and stomach. He raggedly drew breath as he tenderly touched the wound with his right hand, wincing in pain as he neared it. The room was dark, a small lamp emitted a small amount of light in the corner of the room, the night sky emitted nothing through the windows. John glanced at the chair near the lamp, a figure was huddled up in it. Lena… John sighed as he laid back down in the bed, not wanting to wake Lena, it was unlikely she had much sleep after what happened. The sound of the door opening gained John's attention, Doctor Ziegler had walked into the room, a small smile on her face.

"How come I only ever get to see you when I'm almost dead?" John chuckled, clutching his side as he spoke.

"Because you're as stubborn as Jack was." Mercy sighed, Strike-Commanders were always bull-headed. "You're lucky McCree called me when he did, I was about to board a flight out of Paris, I was here for a conference."

"Well, thanks for the save, doc." John sighed, lying back on the bed.

"She sat here ever since the surgery ended, she refused to leave your side." Mercy nodded towards Lena, still asleep on the chair. "Don't scare her like that, John, she cares about you."

"We finally said it, Angela, the magic words." John slowly spoke, his green eyes meeting her cobalt orbs. Mercy wore a look of surprise on her face, not expecting him to reveal this to her.

"We can talk about all that in the morning, I just wanted to let you know that you'll make a full recovery. Get some rest, Commander." Mercy smiled, making her way out of the room as quietly as possible. John winced as he clutched his wound again, a small smile on his face, he wasn't dead yet.

The sun shone through the windows of the hospital, John slowly pushed himself up from the bed, resting on his right arm. "Hey there, partner." A voice quietly spoke, McCree sat on a chair next to the bed, "You gave us quite a scare." He chuckled, standing from his seat.

"At least I didn't lose an arm this time." John laughed, shaking his right arm.

"I'll let you two have some time alone, she'd only go to the bathroom if I promised to stand watch." McCree laughed, exiting the room as Lena entered. She blinked over to the side of the bed, pulling John into a tight hug. He quietly winced as he pulled her close, looking down at her face. Her hazel eyes were red and puffy, it had been a stressful day.

"You're okay…" Lena whispered, pulling John closer. "When the monitor flatlined, and you stopped breathing-" Lena hastily spoke before being interrupted by John.

"I know." John cooed, running his hand through her hair. "I'm not going anywhere." He leaned his face closer to hers, giving her a quick kiss before separating. A knock at the door caused them to release their embrace, Mercy walked in, awkwardly coughing as she stood at the foot of the bed.

"It's good to see that you're alright, John." She smiled, prompting a small blush from the couple. "You should be back to top condition in a day or so, but I'd take it easy until then. Widowmaker can wait until you recover." Mercy sternly spoke, she wasn't giving John a choice. "Ah, the wonders of modern medicine." She sighed, waving to the couple as she left the room.

"Get some sleep, Lena." John whispered, "I'll still be here later." He gently smiled at her, she let out a deep sigh and nodded, making her way out of the room. John turned his gaze to the window, watching the clouds slowly pan overhead, each bearing a unique shape. He didn't know how long he laid in that bed, nurses would occasionally come by to check on him, he was quite the celebrity within the hospital. Mercy dropped by to tell him that she was heading back to Gibraltar, she wanted to be on duty in case anything else went wrong during this mission. He flipped through the extranet on a tablet as he waited to be released, he never knew what to do when he was left alone. He let out a sigh as he glanced back out the window, the sun had begun to set, the amber waves of color peeking out from behind the tall buildings. He heard a knock at the door, McCree had entered holding a bottle of whiskey and holding two glasses.

"They told me not to bring you anything, but I snuck this in for you." McCree laughed, placing both glasses on the table beside John. He poured them each a shot, lifting his glass to toast it with his friend. John sighed as he raised his glass, clinking it against McCree's before they each downed the shot. He emitted a sound of disgust, maybe drinking alcohol wasn't the best idea in his current state. "Lena was scared shitless about you, I don't think I've ever seen her so worked up." McCree spoke, pouring himself another shot.

John nodded as he refused another shot, "As corny as this sounds, I love her." John sighed, he was never one for discussing his emotions. He glanced over at McCree as he let out a chuckle.

"No shit, everyone in Overwatch was taking bets on how long it'd take for you to say the words. You two have been inseparable ever since you met." John laughed at McCree's words, their attention moved to the door as a nurse walked in.

"I was just coming by to say that Doctor Ziegler filled out all the paperwork, you're free to leave whenever you'd like, sir." The nurse waved as she left the room, disappearing down the hall.

"Take me home, Jesse." John grunted as he pushed himself from the bed, slipping on the attire he wore during the quarry mission, his gray jacket had seen better days, sporting a new opening at the shoulder and a hole in the side. McCree nodded as he opened the door, preparing to bring his friend back to the hotel.


	9. Taking a Break

John winced as the elevator rose to the ninth floor, McCree let out a small chuckle as he stared out the window, watching Paris shrink as they ascended. McCree let John lean on him for support as the walked to the door, holding the door to the room open for him. "Take a break tomorrow, I'd prefer if we went a day without getting shot at." McCree laughed, shutting the door as he left down the hall. John sighed as he made his way to the bathroom, flipping on a small light in the shower. He glanced at the bed, Lena was asleep with the covers pulled around her, a small bit of her hair stuck out from her cocoon. John gently smiled as he shut the door, hoping to clean himself off before he went back to bed. He removed his shirt and the bandages, examining the damage that was done to him. A small scar had formed where his left shoulder met his pectoral muscles, and the wound in his stomach was still very inflamed. He sighed as he stepped into the shower, making sure the water pressure was as low as possible to avoid injuring himself. He stood in the center of the shower, letting the warm water slowly run its way down his body, before beginning to gently rinse his hair. He gingerly applied shampoo to his hair, not wanting to try to thoroughly clean it, his left shoulder stung as he lifted it above his head. He shut the shower off, quickly drying off before applying fresh bandages to the wound on his side. He slipped into a pair of briefs and made his way to the bed, shutting off the bathroom light as he stepped back into the bedroom. He quietly made his way to the small fridge at the opposite end of the room, withdrawing a bottle of rum. He removed the lid from the bottle, sitting it down on the desk as he lowered himself into the chair, wincing as he bent his stomach. He took a large swig from the bottle, his gaze focused on the window, watching the Paris streets shine in the night, people hustled below without a care in the world. His thoughts turned to his dream, he still carried the events in Afghanistan with him, they made him into who he was now. The atrocity he committed drove him to doing what was right, and Lena helped push him further, but he would always be a killer. He didn't kill for the pleasure of it, like Widowmaker, or because he needed to inspire fear, like 76, he did it to protect. He took another swig of the bottle, placing it on the desk before he slowly rose to his feet. Those were concerns for another day, he hardly had the strength to drink the rum, let alone ponder his morality. He quietly laid down onto the mattress, pulling the covers over him. He stared at the ceiling, his mind still racing, before eventually shutting his eyes.

John awoke to a warm feeling, he quickly tapped the wound on his side to make sure he wasn't bleeding, the bandages were still dry. He slowly glanced down, Lena had wrapped her arms around him, hugging him as they slept. She fidgeted slightly as she opened her eyes, the hazel orbs looking up at John, she gently smiled. John returned the gesture, leaning his head onto hers, her spiky hair was surprisingly soft. "We have the day off…" John whispered into Lena's ear, a smirk on his face. Lena giggled as she pulled him into a kiss, throwing the covers over them, the day would have to wait.

John chuckled as he laid back onto the bed, letting out a deep sigh. His shoulders were covered in small bite marks, and the lobe of his left ear was red, it had been a busy break. Lena kissed his cheek as she blinked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her, the sound of the shower could be faintly heard through it. John grabbed the remote of the television, deciding that he wasn't going to leave this bed for the day, it had been too long since he just did nothing. He flipped through the channels, sighing at the lack of quality content, before withdrawing his tablet from his bag at the side of the bed. He scrolled through the list of connections he could make, eventually finding the one for the television in his room. With a tap, the television mirrored the display of his tablet, and he began to flip through his stored video content. He eventually settled for a show called _Cowboy Bebop,_ it had been recommended to him by Genji during their time together at Gibraltar, he wondered if the cyborg ever told anyone about his fascination with anime. John expected the show to be voiced in Japanese, but was pleasantly surprised when the voices began to speak in English. He noticed some similarities between himself and the main protagonist; they both smoked cigarettes, tried to be witty in a sarcastic way, and were constantly being shot, they were like long-lost twins. Lena emerged from the bathroom, blinking back into the bed, happy to enjoy the lazy day with John. "We can order some room service, it'll be nice." John chuckled, grabbing a menu from the nightstand drawer. The couple found something that appealed to each of them, calling into the kitchen to have it prepared. "They said it would take about an hour, you fine with watching this?" John pointed to the television, _Cowboy Bebop_ still played, the episode was taking place in some sort of casino, John had only been half-paying attention. Lena pulled John close, laying her head on his right shoulder, letting one of her hands absent-mindedly play with his hair. "It's nice to just relax, we should do it more often." John chuckled, "Hopefully I don't have to get shot every time." Lena let out a small giggle, pulling John closer.

"Yeah, luv, we should." She cooed, watching the strange events unfold on the television, she wasn't quite sure what she was watching. Some time passed before a knock on the door roused them from their trance, Lena blinked over to the door to let the food in. The waiter wheeled a cart in, placing the covered food on the coffee table, before bowing and leaving the room. "Come get you food, luv." Lena spoke, turning to John. He pointed at the wound in his side, chuckling as Lena picked up his plate and brought it over. "Next time, I get to stay in bed." The couple laughed, as Lena rejoined John under the covers. They ate their food in the bed, being as careful as possible to not get any crumbs in it, discussing their plans for the end of the mission. John had hoped to return to Gibraltar for a bit, regardless of if they needed to drop something off or not, and Lena agreed, wanting to see some of the old gang again. Their vacation plans went on for some time, before John glanced at the clock, it read 6:30pm. The day on gone by much faster than he could've anticipated, he finished the last of his food and turned to Lena, a sly smirk on his face.

"You up for dessert, Oxton?" John whispered, leaning in closely to her freckled face, stopping mere inches away. She didn't respond, just staring into his eyes, before throwing herself at him. If he'd get to spend his time in recovery like this, John might start trying to get shot.

This one's a bit of a filler chapter, didn't want to focus on John recovering and then going back into a mission in one chapter, so it's a little bit shorter than the usual. Wanted to thank everyone reading this, especially if they're reading this after the first story, it's been really fun to write these. I'm going to try and get around 24 chapters per Act, and do around 3 Acts, I think that's a pretty good length. I hope the tone difference of this Act from the previous one isn't too jarring, I'm trying to focus more on just a few characters since a lot of characters in Act 1 didn't get a lot of screen time. Sombra will likely return at some point in the future, even though she wasn't called by her full name, and Widowmaker will be back again soon. Thanks again to everyone reading this, I hope you're enjoying it so far!

\- Alerestus


	10. Brutally Efficient

John slipped on his jacket, quietly making his way to the door of the room. Lena was still asleep, but he had something to do. He slowly shut the door behind him, walking down the hall to the elevator. He pressed the button for the lobby, staring out the window as he descended, making his way out of the lobby to the street. He shivered as he stepped outside, it was colder in the early morning than he had expected. He placed a cigarette in his mouth, hoping that the small flame would help keep him warm, letting out a deep sigh as he inhaled the fumes. He placed his hands into his pockets, making his way to the rendezvous point. There weren't many people on the street at this hour, only the occasional tourist or drunk making their way back to their hotels. John chuckled, he and Lena must've been quite the sight on their way back from the bar. He turned down an alleyway, the only source of light was the flame of the cigarette, John sighed as he leaned against the wall. A strange sound brought his attention to the end of the alley, the sound of footsteps grew louder. "It's about time you showed up, puta." A female voice chuckled.

"Sorry, being shot slows you down a little bit." John dryly joked, taking a long drag of his cigarette. "So, what trade are we making this time?" John looked up as he was handed a small file.

"This one's on me, hero. You're going to have your hands full, so I'll be free to do what I want." The voice laughed, the sounds of her footsteps grew quieter as she made her way back down the alley.

"Thanks." John muttered, sliding the file into his jacket as he made his way out of the alley. John made his way back towards the hotel, swinging by a local coffee shop, his cigarette wasn't keeping him as warm as he had hoped. He sat down at a table inside, quickly glancing through the file. Talon was going to be grabbing another priority target, apparently under the cover of a distraction made by a pair of Australian mercenaries. John sighed, turning the page to reveal profile shots of Junkrat and Roadhog, he knew that they'd force his attention away from Widowmaker. Where Widow was calculating, using the exact amount of force she'd need for her target, Junkrat and Roadhog always went with the philosophy that bigger is _always_ better. The pair of mercenaries were going to hit a highly populated area, some sort of plaza near the center of the city, while Widowmaker and her team going to extract their target under the cover of the mayhem. John took a sip of his coffee, slipping the file back into his jacket, he should probably bring something back for Lena. He shot a message to McCree, telling him to meet them at the hotel, they didn't have much time before Talon was set to begin their operation. Opening doors was difficult while carrying a drink in each hand, at least the hotel lobby doors were automatic. John called the elevator with his elbow, pressing the button for the ninth floor when he was inside. He walked down the hall, stopping outside of his room, he wasn't sure how he would open it without a free hand.

"Need some help?" A familiar southern drawl called from down the hall, McCree chuckled as he reached into John's pocket, withdrawing the key. He pressed it against the sensor, holding the door open for John. "Didn't get anything for me?" McCree laughed, feigning hurt in his voice.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in you that way." John chuckled, placing Lena's drink on the nightstand, the sound of the shower could be faintly heard. "Okay, here's the deal." John placed the file on the coffee table as he sat down in the desk chair, rotating it to face McCree. "Junkrat and Roadhog are going to cause mayhem so that Widow and her team can extract a target. And as much as I'd love to just ignore those two and catch her, we've gotten think about the civilian casualties." John sighed as he took a sip of his drink, the moral dilemma of being a hero was something they just had to live with.

"I hear ya, but we've gotta be the good guys." McCree sat down on the couch, propping his feet up on the table as he skimmed through the file. "Where are you getting this intel anyway?" McCree questioned, not moving his eyes up from the file.

"You remember when that computer started talking to us? Same person, they're not exactly on our side, but they're not on Talon's either." John took a final sip of his drink, tossing it into the bin next to the desk. "Unfortunately, that's the best we've got for now. Winston's looking into some things, trying to find a pattern that we can exploit, but it will take some time." John rotated the chair to face the windows, the sun had risen into the sky, substantially more people walked through the streets below. His eyes turned to the bathroom door as it opened, Lena stood in her usual outfit, even the orange goggles, though they hung around her neck. John pointed to the drink on the nightstand with a smile, turning his gaze back out the window. Lena happily picked up the beverage, taking a sip as she sat down next to McCree on the couch. "I gave Jesse a little run-down of the mission today; we get to go fight Junkrat and Roadhog while Widow steals another VIP." John sighed, he knew Lena would agree that they had to focus on helping the civilians.

"We'll get her soon, luv." Lena cheerily spoke, hoping to alleviate any doubts in John's mind. "After all, we're the heroes!" She laughed, taking another sip of her drink. John smiled as he stood up from the chair, sliding his pistol into the holster on his leg.

"Yeah, we are." John chuckled, making his way to the door, "You guys ready? They're about to get started." McCree slowly stood up from the couch, making his way to John, Lena quickly blinked over to the trash bin, dropping her cup in before blinking over to the door. Their hotel was close to the center of Paris, Junkrat and Roadhog wouldn't be too far away. Stepping out into the street, the trio noticed a large group of people fleeing in the opposite direction. "Well, I guess we're going that way." John sighed, unholstering his pistol as they made their way through the crowd. The ground trembled as an explosion rocked the city, debris began to fall from a building further down the street. John slid to a stop by the debris, making sure no civilians were trapped within, he motioned for Lena and McCree to move on ahead. He carefully walked through the remains of the building, faint yelling could be heard further inside. Pushing aside a large piece of rubble, a body could be seen at the end of the room. John jogged over to it, rolling them over to see their face. It wasn't a person at all, merely a dummy with a speaker planted inside it, John sighed as he stood up, expecting the worst. A large hook impaled his side as he was dragged to the other side of the room, the emotionless mask of Roadhog stared down at him. A guttural laugh emitted from the mask, his shotgun slowly raising towards John, kept in place by the hook. He swapped his pistol into his left hand, he had an idea, but it was risky. Roadhog placed the barrel of his gun at John's chest, his slow breathing the only sound in the room. John quickly smacked the barrel to the side, pushing his pistol to the large man's throat and rapidly fire, hoping he'd be able to kill him. John kept firing until he ran out of ammo, drawing ragged breaths as he stared at the mask. Roadhog hadn't moved, blood slowly trickling down from behind the mask. The large man fell over backwards, a sickening gurgle punctuated his death. John let out a sigh of relieve, looking down at the hook still impaled in his side. It hadn't gone deep, thankfully, and he quickly pulled it out of him, wincing as he held the wound. There'd be blood, but he'd survived worse. He withdrew a small piece of cloth from his pocket, jamming it into the wound, he'd find a more permanent fix later.

"John, we can't get to Junkrat but we have him pinned down." Lena's voiced chimed in his ear.

"I'll take care of him." John sighed, making his way out of the dust filled wreckage. He made his way down the street, following the sound of gunshots, Lena and McCree were taking cover behind a car as Junkrat wildly fired grenades from inside a building. John made his way over to the building, hoping through a broken window, John glanced over to the closed door, a bear trap had been left behind it. John made his way up the stairs to the room Junkrat had been last seen, he could hear his maniacal laughter as he fired into the street below. He entered the room, causing Junkrat to turn slowly, staring into his eyes. John sighed, wanting nothing more than to just have this whole ordeal be over with, he missed spending time in London with Lena.

"Oi, well looky here, we have the bastard who clocked me to save them bots!" Junkrat raised his left hand, holding a detonator inside. "Here's what's gonna happen, you're gonna let me get some payback and I won't blow up the car your friend-" John fired a shot into Junkrat's head, the detonator dropped to the floor, thankfully not landing on the trigger. He sighed, walking over to the dead mercenary, firing several more shots in his head. He didn't know what blood was his and what was from the two mercs, but it didn't matter. John sighed, wiping the blood from his face, if he was lucky there was still time to deal with Widowmaker. He stumbled out into the street, McCree and Lena ran over to him, letting him lean on them.

"They're both dead, won't have to worry about terrorists running around anymore." John exhaled, expecting protests from Lena about his methods

"Luv, we gotta give them a chance to come in peacefully, we're the heroes!" Lena spoke, she knew that those two would never willingly surrender, but they deserved the chance nonetheless.

"Yeah, and sometimes heroes have to make hard choices, but we have a very small amount of time to work with now. You two can go on ahead, try and stop her from stealing the VIP, I'll catch up." John grabbed the fresh wound in his side, jamming the fabric further in. "Despite what I just did, do not kill Widow, we need her alive." John sat down on the hood of a car, pointing the direction that McCree and Lena needed to go in, he needed to catch his breath. Lena looked back at him, concern in her eyes, before catching up with McCree further down the road. "I fucking hate this mission." John sighed, turning his eyes to the sky as he breathed deeply.


	11. Dark Secrets

Lena and McCree sprinted to the location from the file, it was a small home not too far from the center of Paris. Talon was set to extract the VIP with a car, there wasn't enough space to land a shuttle. Lena blinked up to sweep the building from the top floor, while McCree breached the front door. The house was eerily quiet, not a single sound came from the darkened rooms. McCree slowly made his way through the first floor, searching for any signs of intruders. He made his way up the staircase, quickly peering into every room before stopping outside a closed door, Lena blinked down the stairs as he prepared to kick in the door. McCree's kick flung the door into the wall, a desk sat on the opposite side of the room, the chair behind it was turned away, facing at the window behind it. McCree turned the chair, the corpse of a man sat in it, the color of his skin indicated he had been dead for some time. Lena grabbed a small item off the desk, it was a badge with the Talon logo. "Well, that ain't good." McCree sighed as he holstered his revolver, "I say we make our way back to John. Talon was definitely here, but not for this guy." He made his way out of the home, Lena following close behind, the door closing behind her.

John groaned as he pushed himself from the hood of the car, his wound had stopped bleeding, but that didn't mean he wasn't in pain. He felt a small prick in his neck, reaching up he pulled a needle from his neck, he glanced upwards to find a Talon dropship flying towards him. "Seriously..." John muttered as he collapsed to the ground, his eyes slowing closing as the sound of heels approached him. Lena and McCree rounded the corner of the street as the shuttle began to take off, Widowmaker stood in the open door, a sneer on her face. Lena quickly scanned the area for John, he wasn't in sight.

"No, no, no!" Lena yelled, trying to blink up to the dropship, her hands mere inches from the metallic ledge of the cabin. Widowmaker let out a laugh before shutting the door, the ship flew off into the distance. Lena slid to a stop, dropping to her knees as she watching the shuttle disappear, they had no idea where they were taking him.

"We'll get him back." McCree spoke, placing a hand on Lena's shoulder, "But we've gotta get to Winston. If we're lucky, John still has his communicator, and that means we can track him." Lena slowly rose to her feet, a smile on her face, but her eyes told a different story, they held a sadness within them, though she hoped Jesse didn't notice. McCree sighed, speaking into his communicator to inform Winston of the situation, he dispatched a shuttle to their location to pick them up.

John groggily shook himself awake, trying to force his eyes to focus. He slowly lifted his head and peered around, he was in a shuttle of some sort. The cabin gently shook as they soared through the air, he lifted his arms to find that they were, surprisingly, not bound, though his pistol was missing. The only figure beside the pilot was the woman sitting across from him, his eyes struggled to focus, only making out her purple skin. "Good to see you're awake, _Commander_." Sarcasm laced the word, the woman slowly turned her head out the window. "Do you know where we're going?" She asked, keeping her focus on the scenery below.

"No, I don't." John grunted, "Though I suppose if you wanted to kill me I'd be dead already."

"Smart boy, we're taking to where this all began, somewhere very important to you. And then, when you realize the truth, you'll come with us, willingly." Widowmaker sneered, still not turning to face him.

"And why would I do that?" John questioned, he had never once considered joining Talon.

"Because you've hidden the truth from yourself, and I know how you struggle with being a hero. We don't hope that the world will do the right thing and improve, we force it to do so, it doesn't matter if they want to or not." The bitter words shook John, he did feel that the constant struggle of putting out the world's fires was fruitless, half of the fights he had were with enemies he had already met. The only ones who never returned were the ones he killed, he could add Junkrat and Roadhog to that list. "We're here." Widowmaker smiled, opening the door of the shuttle as they lowered to the ground. Wide dunes of sand covered the landscape, a lone stone building sat nestled near the foot of a mountain. John slowly stepped out of the shuttle, the sand crunching beneath his feet. He scanned the area, this is where he left Overwatch, where he killed those Omnics. His legs trembled as he neared the building, the corpses of the Omnics still littered the landscape, their chasises stained from years of unrelenting winds. The memories came flooding back, he killed the Omnics, reached down to save the woman, her hate filled eyes peering back. As he left the building into the light, his comrades stared at him in horror, aiming their weapons at him.

"You killed them, John." One of the men spoke, "They never gave us orders to fire!" John stood there, paralyzed as he stared at his comrades, a single shot rang out, killing the man who spoke to him. John looked down, his finger had pressed the trigger of his weapon, as he turned and fired on the rest of his men, one was missing, but it didn't matter. John fell to his knees inside the building, dragged back to reality, as Widowmaker slowly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Now do you remember?" She coldly spoke, "Do you remember who you truly are, killer?" John's arms shook as he slowly dropped them to his side, unable to comprehend what he had done. "You hid the truth from yourself, hoping to cope with what you really did. You couldn't live with the knowledge that you killed innocents and then turned on your own squadmates, so you ran. You ran away from all this, hoping that you could escape from the past. You're no hero, John, you're a killer like us." Widowmaker's words rang through John, he just stared at the empty room. He was pulled to his feet by Widowmaker, who dragged him back towards the shuttle. "You won't need this anymore." She reached into his pocket, throwing his communicator into the sand, before shutting the door as the shuttle took off. "It's a lot to comprehend, but it's for the best. You need to know who you are if you ever want to truly live. And now, we can help one another. Talon is painted as the evil in the world, the shadow behind every crisis, but that's not the case. We're pushing the world in the way it needs to go, and there's always some resistance, but it's for the greater good. But, you don't need to hear me say it, you can listen to him." Widowmaker pointed towards a monitor on the wall, a shadowy figure appeared on the screen.

"Hello, John, I know this is a lot to take in." The voice spoke, his smooth voice contrasted with the dark visuals. "We need you to help us make the world better than it would otherwise be, not through hope and praise, but through action. You'll find that we're not as evil as we're made out to be, and that every freedom comes with a price." John slowly glanced at the monitor, his eyes sullen from the memories he relived.

"But why me?" He slowly asked, barely able to speak.

"You're a natural leader, someone the troops will obey, and you can relate to them. Everyone here has a difficult past, it binds us together, makes us a family. We need people like you, John, people willing to do what needs to be done. You're not an enigma like Reaper was, nor are you as cold as Widowmaker, you're a human, and that's what makes you perfect for us. We could offer you enhancements, though I imagine you'd refuse them, but we want you as whole as we can get. We can't afford to be making mistakes John, there's a war coming, but we have a chance to stop it."

"If there was something happening, Overwatch would-"

"Overwatch is too caught up in international politics and positivity to ever focus on the big picture." The man interrupted, "We're sending you in with Widowmaker to Russia, any doubts you have about us will be dispelled there. Welcome to Talon, John." The monitor shut off, dimming the cabin. Widowmaker handed John a pistol, a silencer had been built into the barrel, along with a small sight modification along the top.

"It's not as weak as that flimsy thing you had on you." Widowmaker spoke, returning to her seat.

"You don't think I'll shoot you with this?" John replied, examining the weapon.

"No, because I think you want to know if we're telling the truth." John looked up to meet Widowmaker's cold gaze, letting out a sigh as he prepared for the flight to Russia.

Lena and McCree flew towards the mountains of Afghanistan, Winston had said that his communicator was there. The shuttle quickly landed on the sand, footsteps could still be seen leading to the lone building. Lena and McCree examined the Omnic corpses around the area, whatever had happened had been a bloodbath. They made their way behind the building, where the communicator was transmitting from, several small graves were lined up, small wooden markings sat at the top of them. Lena picked up the communicator, a single message flashed on its screen, it had never been sent. _Goodbye._


	12. The Bleak Truth

The shuttle gently shook in the harsh wind, slow flew by the window as they began their descent. The shuttle stopped a few feet above the ground, John slid the side door open, shivering as the frigid winds pelted him. He hopped out of the shuttle, his boots crunching the snow below him as he surveyed the building before him. _Any doubts will be dispelled?_ John sighed, glancing at his new firearm as Widowmaker dropped from the shuttle. "You're going in on foot, I'll be giving you some cover, that way you can't say we tampered with the evidence." Widowmaker smirked as she grappled to a nearby ledge, climbing through a window into the building. John made his way towards a small door, he never did care for gadgets, a good gun was all you really needed. He slowly slid the door open, glancing inside before shutting it behind him, a guard was posted at the end of the hall, thankfully facing away from John. He quietly snuck up behind the guard, placing his hand over his mouth and firing three shots into his back, lowering the body to the ground. _I guess if I'm with Talon I don't have to worry about casualties._ John sighed, part of him enjoyed not limiting himself for the "greater good" as Overwatch would put it, but killing still felt wrong, even after his recent revelations. He glanced around the corner, two guards stood watch in front of a large door, he spotted a small laser pointing at the side of the left guard's head, Widowmaker was ready. John fired a shot into the right guard's head, his blood splattering against the wall behind him, his partner quickly looked over in shock before he suffered the same fate. John made a two-fingered salute to the window, earning a chuckle from Widowmaker. John rummaged through the guards' uniforms for a keycard, sliding it through a small scanner next to the door. The door slowly parted, revealing a large warehouse, lights along the ceiling lit up as John stepped into the room. John slowly walked down the center of the warehouse, large mechanical suits lined the walls, a gigantic suit of armor stood at the end, a table placed at its feet. John made his way to the table, placing his pistol in his holster as he flipped through the papers left there. _Well, this certainly isn't made for construction._ John sighed, the suit held a large arsenal of weaponry, meant to be piloted from within, it was a war machine. Hidden beneath the schematics was a map, John pulled it out, revealing a detailed layout of Russia's southern border with Kazakhstan. _What the hell…_ John flipped through the pages attached to the map, detailing their plans to attack Omnic settlements in the northern mountains of Kazakhstan to prevent them from ever being a threat. Russia had opted to fight the Omnic Crisis alone, refusing the help of other nations and even Overwatch, their wounds ran the deepest of all the nations affected in the war. A single signature dotted the bottom of the official orders, Makarov. _This isn't defense, it's going to start a war all across the southern border. All this just for some peace of mind?_

"So, did you find what they left?" Widowmaker spoke, her voice ringing in John's ear. He pressed his finger into his ear to reply, letting out a deep sigh.

"Yeah, and I'm assuming you know where this Makarov is?" He heard a small chuckle from the other end of the line.

"Yes, meet me back outside, the shuttle is waiting." John folded up the files, slipping them into his jacket as he made his way back outside, hoisting himself into the shuttle as they lifted off. He sat down, glancing towards Widowmaker as she stared out the window. "We're heading straight to him, there will be a few guards, but nothing we can't handle." John swore he saw a smile on her lips.

"So what's their endgame? Why risk starting a war over some Omnic settlements?" John questioned, unsure of why Russia would plan something so overtly aggressive.

"The Omnics are just a cover up, there's some valuable metals near those settlements that they use in their machines. They're quite impressive." John chuckled, reaching into his pocket for a cigarette, he must've dropped the pack during the past day.

The Overwatch shuttle landed outside the dim building, the snow slowly glided over the hull of the ship. Lena hopped out into the snow, glancing at a small object protruding from the ground. She picked it up, throwing it to McCree as he stepped out of the shuttle. "He was here, only person I know who smokes this crap." McCree placed the pack into his pocket, joining Lena inside the building. A guard laid dead on the floor close to the entrance, several bullet wounds could be seen in his back. McCree sighed as he turned the corner, another pair of dead guards laid in front of an open door. Lena blinked past him, craning her neck to examine the warehouse, staring at the large mechanical suits that lined the room.

"You don't think he-" Lena began, turning towards McCree.

"I don't know, but someone killed those guards." A noise rang in his ear, he pressed his finger into it to receive the message.

"Jesse." Winston spoke, "We've gotten word that a high ranking officer named Makarov is under attack by Talon, we need you two there now, he's not far."

"I hear ya." McCree removed his finger from his ear, "Come on, we've got a lead."

John hopped out of the shuttle, they had chosen to go in from the roof, there was much less resistance than at the front door. Widowmaker would give him cover from a nearby building, there was no shortage of windows she could fire through. He had been given a choice; take Makarov alive and bring him to Talon, or execute him and leave the body. He sighed, stepping down the stairwell into the building below. A guard stood around the corner, quietly humming to himself. John quickly pulled the man into the stairwell, inserting a knife into his neck before dropping him to the ground. "You're a natural fit for Talon." Widowmaker spoke into his ear, clearly pleased with his performance. John didn't respond, crouching low as he continued down the hallway. Makarov was in a room at the end of the hall, a small office, but one Widowmaker couldn't fire into. He passed by a break room, several guards sat inside, laughing amongst themselves.

"How many can you take out?" John questioned, he'd be able to take care of three before they noticed him.

"As many as you need me to." Widowmaker's cold confidence rung in his ear, he let out a small chuckle.

"Get the four closest to you, I'll get the three on my side. 3, 2, 1." John counted down, grabbing one of the guards as a human shield, quickly firing into the chests of the two guards facing him. Widowmaker's shots were quick and deadly, each one piercing through the skull of their target. John snapped the neck of the guard he held, leaving his body amongst the others. "Be ready to extract me from the office window, I'll be quick." John spoke into his communicator, stopping just before Makarov's office.

McCree and Lena sprinted into the building, the distress call had been urgent, and it sounded like the guard who warned them was bleeding out. They ran through the hallway at the top of the stairs, bodies littered the ground of a room nearby, a crash from further inside hurried their pace. The door to Makarov's office had been kicked in, the portly man sat in his chair with a man at his side, holding a pistol to his head. "Drop it!" McCree shouted, pointing his revolver at the figure.

The window behind the man shattered, a zip line could be seen as light from the dropship flowed into the room. The man fired a shot into Makarov's head, his limp body slumping onto the desk. The light of the dropship illuminated his face, a pair of green eyes stared at the Overwatch agents. He grabbed onto the line outside, hooking on foot into the loop at the bottom.

"John?" Lena spoke, bewildered at the actions of her commander. He paused for a moment, seeming to tremble as he stood on the line, before pulling on it to ascend into the dropship. "No, no, no!" Lena shouted, sticking her head out of the window as the dropship flew away, "This isn't right!" Tears began to well in her eyes, she had never expected John to work with Talon, they had all assumed he was kidnapped. McCree sighed as he picked up a map off the table, detailing plans of an invasion of Kazakhstan, pulling Lena into a hug as he placed the file into his pocket.

"You didn't have to leave them intel." Widowmaker coldly spoke, her gaze penetrating John's own.

"It's always good to have more help, even if they won't do what we need to." John didn't meet her gaze, staring out the window. He missed her, he wanted nothing more than to just abandon all this and go back to London, but he couldn't. He was a different man than the one she had fallen in love with, he was a killer, but he was still going to protect her.


	13. Fractured Psyche

The shuttle trembled as they flew back towards Paris, Talon still had work to do there. The monitor flashed, the same shadowy figure from before stood. "Excellent work, Commander. I trust you see how fragile the world is? We don't do this because we enjoy it, we do it to keep order. How many people would die because of Russia's aggression, thousands, millions? All that just for some minerals." The smooth voice spoke, "I understand you left something for our friends at Overwatch. You cannot hold onto the past John, we need you focused."

"They'll help, even if it's unknowingly, Overwatch can't ignore the threat of a war." John sighed, his gaze still on the scenery below.

"They'll keep coming after you. You know that, don't you?" The voice spoke.

"Then I'll deal with them if they become an issue. I won't let the world plunge into chaos because of my past." Would I really deal with them, could I even do it? John pondered, he had never thought he would be fighting against his friends, his family.

"Good, we can't afford to hesitate when the stakes are so high. You'll be going back to Paris to extract a prominent geneticist, we have a bold idea on how to deal with the rising aggression, but all will be revealed in time." The monitor shut off, leaving the two Talon agents in silence as they flew back to Paris.

Lena sat in silence as they flew, unable to comprehend what she had seen. John had killed before, sure, but never so ruthlessly, executing a man like he was an animal. Something changed in him, Talon did something to him to turn him into this, he wasn't a common killer. "Yeah, I'll tell her." McCree sighed, sitting down beside Lena, taking in a deep breath before speaking. "I just spoke with Winston… We're considering John as part of Talon, unless you know with certainty that you can pacify him, he's to be shot on sight." McCree lit a cigar, taking a long drag, he never thought he'd have to fire on his friend. Lena stared off into space, waiting some time before responding.

"But that's not him, luv! You know that!" She shouted, she never wanted to hurt her friends, her family, they were supposed to stay together, that's why they remade Overwatch.

"Lena, he executed a Russian official, he's helping Talon…" McCree took another long drag on the cigar.

"They did something to him, they had to! He's not like this, we can save him!" Lena clenched her fists, angry that something like this could happen, this isn't how Overwatch was supposed to be. They were supposed to be the good guys, doing the right thing and helping people in need, and now their Commander changed sides and executed a man in front of his two closest friends.

"I know, and we'll try, but he's dangerous, Lena. He might not even remember us…" McCree exhaled, emitting a large amount of smoke, before a buzzing rang in his ear.

"You don't know me, cowboy." A spanish voice spoke into his ear, "But I know where your little hero is going. Sirta Foundation building in Paris, they're going to kidnap some doctor, consider this a repayment for the info he gave me." The voice quickly closed the channel, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

"Lena take us to the Sirta Foundation, that's where they'll be next." McCree spoke, making his way to the bay door. "Drop me off on the ground, you land on the roof and go in from there." He shouted, sliding open the door as they lowered into the Paris streets. Lena nodded as she dropped him off, flying the shuttle to the roof of the building, setting it to auto pilot as she leapt out.

John walked through the hallway, many guards had been stationed in preparation for their arrival, but it didn't matter. He and Widowmaker made their way into a large laboratory, a catwalk ran along the ceiling, a small office sat on the far corner, their man was in there. A shot rang out from behind them, McCree had caught up, intent on catching the pair. John smashed a nearby panel, sending the room into lockdown, bangs could be heard from the door as McCree searching for a way in. Several shots hit the table in front of them, they crouched to take cover, a familiar blue light could be seen blinking on the catwalk. "Get the target, I'll catch up." John barked, firing at the catwalks to buy Widowmaker time to make it across. She leapt into the small office, the door locking behind her.

"You don't have to do this, luv, you can just come back with us!" Lena shouted, not revealing herself from her hiding spot.

"I'm doing what I have to, you can't save the world with hope and platitudes!" John growled, he was tired of pretending to be a hero, it felt good to throw away all pretenses.

"This isn't you, luv!" Lena shouted, her voice shaking as she spoke, "This isn't the John that I know, that I love!" John stopped at her words, they resonated deep within him, he was torn between two worlds. He wanted to return to his family, to his friends, but he couldn't face them like this, he had changed.

"I'm not the same man I was then, Lena, things have changed. The world needs people to do what has to be done!" John barked, hoping his rage would dull any other emotion.

"And you think the response is to abandon everything, and join them?! You're not a killer, John, I know you aren't!" Lena's voice had gotten closer, John turned to find her walking towards him, her weapons holstered on her sides. "John…" Her eyes pleaded with him, begging him to come home, they missed him, she missed him.

John raised his pistol, his arm shaking as he pointed it at her. "Lena… Someone has to stop all this, someone has to maintain order." His breathing had gotten shallow, "I'm a killer, Lena, it's who I am… I can't come back like this, I can't put you through this." Lena slowly approached him, her arms were raised, pistols still at her side.

"We can help, luv, you don't have to go through this alone." She cooed, slowly approaching him.

"Lena…" John's arm had begun to shake more, his aim would be unreliable at best. "Don't make me do this…" Lena continued to walk towards him, arms still raised, stopping just in front of the barrel. She stared at him, her hazel eyes full of compassion, tears welled in his eyes. He dropped to his knees, leaving the pistol on the floor, just letting it all pour out. Lena knelt down next to him, pulling him into a hug, his sobs were the only sound in the room.

"It's okay, luv, we know who you are…" Lena whispered, pulling him closer, he placed his face into her shoulder, sobbing deeply as he wrapped his arms around her. She gently stroked his hair as the sat there, the lockdown eventually released to allow McCree access to the laboratory. He sprinted into the room, holstering his revolver as he noticed Lena and John. He quietly left to call the shuttle, not wanting to intrude. Widowmaker stood in the open door of the shuttle, her prize had been incapacitated and placed in a seat, she watched the three agents enter the shuttle far below her.

"He didn't stay long." She coldly spoke, the monitor behind her flashed to life.

"We both knew he wouldn't, but he got us what we needed, time. We'll play it safe for now, they'll be too focused on rehabilitating him to search for us, and then we'll continue with the plan." The monitor flickered off as the door shut, the Talon shuttle shimmered before becoming translucent, flying off undetected. John sat in a chair on one side of the shuttle, staring at the ground, it had been a stressful week to say the least. McCree gazed out a window, unsure of what to say to his friend. Lena blinked across to sit next to him, rubbing his hair as they lifted off. John didn't respond to any questions or touches from Lena, his gaze never left the floor as they flew home.

The shuttle shook as it landed at Gibraltar, the moon dimly lit the landing pad as McCree stepped out onto it. The base had been cleared, very few people knew what John had done in Russia, and they wanted to keep it that way. Lena tapped John as she stood up, his emotionless face glancing out the door before he slowly rose to his feet, stepping out into the cold night air. "I'll take you to your room." Lena smiled, no response came from John as she wrapped his right arm around her, blinking down the path. She blinked past the barracks and the mess hall, she wasn't taking him to his old room, she blinked down a hallway past the med bay, stopping at a small door. She tapped the button by the door, causing it to slide open. A small bedroom sat inside, the main room had a bed and a table, with a chair on either side, a bathroom could be seen through a door at the opposite wall. Lena laid John down on the bed, putting a small smile on her face. "Sorry, luv, this is all we had!" She nervously chuckled, looking down at John. He just stared at the ceiling, his vacant expression unsettled her, she had never seen him like this. A knock at the door brought her attention off of John, Mercy had entered the room, a clipboard in her hand. "Goodnight, luv." Lena gave a wave as she blinked off down the hallway, the door shutting behind her. Mercy smiled as she pulled out a chair, sitting next to the bed.

"So, John, how have you been?" He didn't answer, just staring at the ceiling, his vacant expression still present. Mercy let out a small sigh, she hadn't expected this, "Can you tell me what happened?" Mercy spoke, trying to pull something out of him.

"I killed them, doc." John spoke, still staring at the ceiling.

"As regrettable as it is, sometimes lives are lost in this-" Mercy was interrupted.

"My squad, before any of this, I killed them all." John slowly turned his head towards Mercy, his green eyes staring right through her. "Do you know what it's like to live a lie for a decade, Angela? To fool yourself and everyone around you that you're someone you're not. You all bonded with a man who didn't exist, a persona I used to cope with what I did." Mercy scribbled something on her clipboard, before glancing back up at John.

"I think we have a good idea of what's plaguing you, but we won't work through it in a night. I want you to get some rest, John, we can get you through this." Mercy smiled as she slid the chair back under the table. She flipped the lights off as she left, hoping John would get some sleep. He was tired, in more ways than one, he slowly shut his eyes to get whatever rest he could, hoping this was all a nightmare.


	14. Professional Opinion

"No response, hit him again!" A voice shouted, John couldn't see what was happening, a large shock hit his chest. He awoke in a cold sweat, he hadn't gotten over the time where he briefly died, not yet. He looked around the dim room, it was the same as when he had spoken to Mercy. A small ray of sunshine came through the window at the top of the wall, it was more like a cell than a room. John stood up from the bed, making his way to the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, his stubble had grown into a full beard, his green eyes held deep bags underneath them. He turned on the shower, making his way back into the main room. He sighed, thinking of doing something he hadn't done in years. He reached up to his right arm, pushing it into the socket and twisting, his prosthetic came out with an audible pop. He placed his arm on the table, making his way back towards the bathroom, he could use a shower.

Mercy stepped into the room, John was nowhere to be seen, though his prosthetic laid on the table. She sat down, glancing at the metallic limb before her, he had kept it in good shape, though some scars were present from its use in combat. The bathroom door opened, John emerged wearing the clothes from the previous night, though his shirt was crumpled up on the bed. His body was much more rugged than when Mercy had previously seen it, several scars lined his body. Two were fresher than the rest, one on his left shoulder, and another in his side. John glanced over at Mercy, surprised to see her so early, as he slipped his shirt back on. He placed his prosthetic on the bed, choosing to not wear it, it was something he could control. His left arm filled out the shirt nicely, though the fabric of the right sleeve hung loosely. "Good morning." Mercy smiled, she had brought the same clipboard from the night before. John grunted, he was more focused than the previous night, though he still made no eye contact. "Let's pick up where we left off, you mentioned something about living a lie-".

"Have you ever died, doc?" John interrupted, his gaze on the small window in his cell. Mercy was unsure how to answer the question, deciding to shake her head, very few people die and come back, even if it's just for a moment. "I'm not a religious man, not by any means, but do you want to know what I saw?" John's tone was flat, the John that she knew would've made some sort of quip by now.

"If you feel comfortable sharing-"

"Nothing." John interrupted her again, "I didn't see a fucking thing, doc. This life I've lived, the lie that I've told the world, this is all I've got. There's no happy ending waiting for me, it's all just shit piled onto even more shit." John sighed, his tone unflinching, he didn't know what to feel anymore. "All I've done my entire life is kill people, but I told myself I would atone for what I did. What kind of atonement is more killing? How am I redeeming myself by jamming a knife into a man's throat?" Mercy was silent, unsure if John was finished with his train of thought. "When I was with Talon, for as little time I spent with them, I didn't have to worry about the killing. It was all for the greater good, a life given in pursuit of order, of security. How do I rationalize killing people when I'm supposed to be the hero? What kind of hero shoots a man in the throat ten times?"

"Let's think of it this way, John, why do you kill?" Mercy questioned, she was a pacifist, though death was unfortunately common in this line of work.

"Because I have to, because it's better to kill a terrorist than to give them another chance to ruin a life. You can't save the world on good intentions, you have to take action." John sighed, "Even if those actions are reprehensible, someone has to do it to protect the world."

"You sound quite a bit like Soldier 76 did." Mercy chuckled, John made a small smile.

"When I first joined, I detested him for what he did, the methods he used. But now, I think he was right. There's good in this world, but you have to be willing to dig through shit to find it." John chuckled, he was more like Jack Morrison than he'd care to admit, though he hoped he wouldn't make the same mistakes. Overwatch already collapsed once, there was no need for it to collapse again.

"What are you fighting to protect, John?" Mercy questioned, she had scribbled some words down on her clipboard. John took a deep breath, unsure of what his answer would be.

"To protect my friends, my family, and…" John's words trailed off, he didn't know if he and Lena were still romantically involved after all this.

"Lena?" Mercy asked, filling in the name for John. He shrugged, everything in his life was up in the air. Mercy wrote on her clipboard some more, before looking back up at John. "Why did you lie, John? What made you unable to come to terms with what happened in Afghanistan?" Mercy's voice was stern, she wanted to prod him forward.

"Why wouldn't I hide what I did? I killed innocents and then killed my squad, what about that is something I would want to share?" Venom laced his words, anyone would've lied had they done the same thing. "I couldn't live my life knowing that I was no better than a murderer, so I fooled myself into thinking that it was out of my control, that things just went wrong."

"The report claims that the Omnics fired at you first."

"It doesn't matter if they fired first, they were still innocents, and I still killed them." John exhaled deeply, standing up and walking to the bed. He picked up his prosthetic arm, jamming it back into place. "In a lot of ways, I wish I had died when I lost my arm, it would've been a better death than what I could hope for now. Dying as a naive young soldier would've been a mercy, rather than dying as the killer I am now." John looked down at his right hand, slowly moving the mechanical fingers, examining every movement. "This isn't a fitting punishment for what I did, but it's a start." John looked back up at Mercy, his green eyes holding a small spark of the man he once was. "Are we done, doc? I've got a lot to do." A small smile graced Mercy's face, it was good to hear him joke, even if it was a bad one. She nodded, rising from the chair and making her way out of the room.

"I'll be back later. Thank you, John." He turned back towards the room, he didn't have much in the way of entertainment, even a ball would've been appreciated. He sighed, lying down on the bed, counting the tiles that lined the ceiling. His thoughts quickly turned grim as he counted the tiles, his room could be double in size and he still wouldn't have a tile for every kill. Was he apathetic to the killing, desensitized, or did some small part of him enjoy it? He quickly discarded the final suggestion, not wanting to explore the train of thought that would lead down. Which was better, to be apathetic or to no longer find it shocking? To believe it didn't matter, or to have it be part of your daily life? John didn't know, he wasn't sure which even applied to him. He hoped he was simply desensitized to the killing, he was no stranger to brutality, Anderson was a prime example of what he could do. Though with Talon he simply didn't care, like he told Mercy, every kill was just a step to a better world, a necessary sacrifice. His thoughts were interrupted by a tap at the window, John pulled a chair over to the wall to examine the noise. He was able to open the window, though it only made a gap a couple inches wide, no one could escape if the gap was that small. A mechanical hand appeared above the window holding a pack of cigarettes, it slid it up the gap to John's hand. He tapped on the metal wall twice, indicating his appreciation, the metallic hand tapped once before disappearing. John chuckled, making his way back to the bed, rummaging through the pockets of his discarded jacket, pulling out his lighter. He smiled as he placed the cigarette in his mouth, igniting it as he took a deep drag. He relaxed, propping himself up against the wall with a pillow, at least he could still smoke. His trance was cut short by the sound of the door opening, he sighed as he opened his eyes, Lena stood in the doorway.

"Hey, luv, Mercy said I could come see ya!" Lena cheerily spoke, her eyes moving towards the cigarette, "And I thought you were going to quit those?" She chuckled, sticking her tongue out at him before sitting down at the table. John took a final drag of the cigarette, pushing it into his right hand to extinguish it, before joining her at the table. Lena anxiously tapped the table before speaking again, "So, how're you holding up?" She was usually good at small talk, but this situation was different. John let out a deep sigh, not answering for several seconds.

"I don't know." The answer was simple, yet it didn't give Lena any information. She continued to tap the table, she had a particular question in mind, she was never this nervous.

"Were you really going to shoot me?" The question stung, John averted his eyes from hers almost immediately, how would he answer a question like that? He took a deep breath, trying to buy himself more time to answer, he didn't know himself. A giggle from Lena brought his attention back to her, "Just kidding, luv, I know you wouldn't shoot me!" Her trust was welcoming, he had expected the two of them to be on thin ice after what he did, but she was happy to see him again. She had always been the ray of sunshine in Overwatch, he was glad to see that applied to traitors like him. "The real question is…" Lena paused, looking down at the ground, "Are we still together?" John sighed, he wasn't the same man that Lena fell in love with, he was fragments of two different people slowly combining.

"It's up to you, Lena. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't look at me the same way after what I did, I don't think I'll ever be the same man I once was." John exhaled as he turned his gaze to the window, he could hear Lena getting up, he wasn't surprised with her decision. He was quickly turned towards the door by Lena, she planted her lips on his, emitting a small moan as she did so, they still tasted like vanilla.

"I think we still are." Lena whispered into his ear, gently nibbling the lobe as she pulled away. John winced, he wanted Lena to stay, but he knew she couldn't, not yet. She blinked towards the door, opening it before turning back to John. She shot a wink towards him before blinking down the hall. John sighed as he laid back in the bed, again staring at the ceiling, at least he still had Lena.


	15. Reliving the Past

Mercy walked into the room, John's prosthetic laid on the table, its owner doing push-ups on the ground, there wasn't much to do in his little room. Sweat dripped off his body, leaving small puddles on the tiled floor, grunting with every rep he did. "Hey, doc." John spoke between reps, never looking up from the floor. Mercy chuckled as she sat down at the table, John's pace had begun to slow. He let out a long groan as he finished, lying down on the cold tiles for a few moments before pushing himself to his feet. He joined Mercy at the table, popping his prosthetic back into place before glancing up at her.

"We made some good progress earlier, did Lena's visit help?" Mercy questioned, her voice sympathetic. John chuckled, her visit had been pleasant, to say the least.

"Yeah, it was good to talk with her." Lena had always been a positive influence on him in the past, a rock for him to lean on, he was glad that hadn't changed.

"Good." Mercy smiled, "Has your arm been bothering you? I've noticed you've been removing it quite a bit lately." Her eyes moved to his right arm, the paint had chipped slightly from when she first installed it.

"It's just nice to have control over something." John sighed, his life had been chaotic these past few weeks, his arm was something he was the master of. He had adapted surprisingly well to his replacement, though he'd always know it wasn't really a part of him.

"I see." Mercy wrote something on her clipboard, before looking back up at John. "We briefly touched on your views of… casualties on the battlefield." She chose her words carefully, "Would you be comfortable talking about that again?" John nodded, placing a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it, chuckling at the disapproving look on Mercy's face. "You said that you felt like you needed to kill, that it was the only permanent solution, do you still believe that?"

"I do." John took a long drag of the cigarette, being sure to exhale the smoke away from Angela. "I don't enjoy killing, at least I hope I don't, but I have to do it. It's a life or death situation, hesitating could get me or someone else killed, at some point you just stop caring. It's how I rationalize it to myself, if I don't worry about ending someone's life then I can pretend that I'm still a good guy." John's tone was bitter, he didn't ever think he was really a good guy, but he could convince himself he wasn't a murderer.

Mercy wrote something on her clipboard before speaking again. "What do you feel when you kill, John?" Her tone was flat, hoping that he would answer truthfully without being prodded. John sighed, his eyes staring out into space.

"The first time you kill you feel terrible, you feel like there's this pit in your stomach, you want to vomit. The pain dulls over time, you try and rationalize what you did however you can, convincing yourself that you did what you had to. Eventually you get to where I am," John's eyes focused onto Mercy's, "Where you don't feel anything." He took another drag of the cigarette, noticing the slight tremble in her eyes at his response. "I kill because I have to, doc, but I've stopped trying to convince myself that I'm some saint. It's a morbid thing to do, but it has to be done."

Mercy recomposed herself, scribbling onto her clipboard once again, before glancing back up at John. "That's a… Nihilistic view to say the least. Earlier you mentioned that you killed to protect, how does that fit into your views?"

"Like I said, someone has to do it. The protection is an underlying aspect of it all, I'd kill even if I wasn't protecting anyone, it's all I've been good at." John let out a bitter laugh, "I think I would be a great fit for Blackwatch if it were still around." He still despised what Blackwatch stood for, but it seemed fitting for him to be there. Blackwatch was the opposite side of Overwatch's coin, the darker half that did what had to be done. He'd never condone what they did, but he finally began to understand them.

"Well, I think that's all we have time for today, but I have someone I'd like you to speak to." Mercy turned towards the door as it opened, McCree strode inside, nodding at the pair as he made his way to the table. He took Mercy's seat as she left, waving to her as the door shut. McCree reached under his poncho, pulled out a bottle of whiskey with two shot glasses placed onto the lid. He placed them on the table, sliding a glass across the table to John.

"Don't tell her I brought you this, I told her I'd stop drinking." McCree let out a laugh, pouring himself a shot before sliding the bottle to John. He chuckled, filling his own glass before tapping it against McCree's, the two men quickly downed their drinks. "So, you almost back to being the same jackass I know?" McCree chuckled, leaning back into his chair.

"I'll be a bit different, but I'm getting there." John sighed, pouring himself another shot before quickly downing it. "Did you hear me mention that I'd fit right in with Blackwatch?"

"You would've hated it, too many regulations, plus I don't think you'd like the dress code. Reyes always wanted us to wear black and big patches with the logo on them, like some Hot Topic rejects." McCree laughed, lighting a cigar in his mouth. "You would've liked Reyes, though. Bit of a hardass, but he cared about everyone on the team, even if he wasn't particularly sociable." McCree let out a puff of smoke, John did the same, their two clouds floating up towards the open window. "Anyway, down to brass tacks, she didn't bring me here just to drink with you. Do you remember your first kill, John? I'm not talking Omnics or hearing about a kill, I mean up close and personal." McCree's tone had become serious, his brown eyes staring at John.

"Vividly." John replied, meeting his gaze, "Do you?"

"Yeah, it was some time before Overwatch though, back in that shitty little gorge we met in. I was new to the gang, as a sort of initiation test they'd have you rob somebody. Didn't matter who, didn't matter where, the point was that you'd be willing to kill for them if it came to it. Being the hothead I was, I wanted to get something big, I scoped out a few people in town, deciding who the best target would be. I found some old bastard, he had a lotta money, though he tried to keep it hidden. I'd catch glances of his wallet when he'd pay for something, the inside was filled with as much cash as a bank vault." McCree poured himself another shot, downing it before continuing his story. "I managed to corner him one night when he was walking home, police never came to the gorge anyway. I aimed my revolver at him and gave him a choice, his money or his life. The old bastard should've just given me the wallet, it would've been a lot simpler. He tried to reach for his own gun, so I put a shot in his chest. I must've hit his lung, he just laid on the ground, gasping for breath as I stood there. I waited for a long time, eventually his breathing stopped, finally slumping in a pool of his own blood. I didn't take the wallet, I just ran back to the hideout. I told them what happened, expecting them to either kick me out or kill me, but they didn't. I killed for the gang, and that made me family, it was never about the money. The point is, we all do stuff we regret, and the best we can do is to try and correct our mistakes. I've killed a lot of people, John, more than most ever will, but I keep on going. I'm like you, I don't feel the killing anymore, done so much that it's basically second nature, but it's what you fight for that matters, that's what determines who you are." McCree slid the bottle to John, emitting another puff from his cigar, "Now, your turn." John poured himself a shot, the alcohol wouldn't completely numb the pain of reliving the first kill, but it would help.

"I joined Overwatch as a bright young recruit, eager to save the world like everyone else, I wanted to be a hero like I saw on the posters. My first mission was in Dorado, part of some big defense plan to keep the Omnics away from the new power plant being built there. Omnics weren't the only thing we had to worry about though, a small group of people believed that if they helped the Omnics get into the city then they'd be spared. They called themselves The Harbingers, and we had a run in with them not far from the power plant. We were pinned down in front of the plant, they had gotten into a church across the street and were firing down from the windows, I got chosen to distract them on the flank so the squad move inside to deal with them." John downed his shot, preparing himself for the memory. "I creeped up a side path, stepping inside the door of the church, when I heard a blood-chilling scream. A machete swung right by my face and stuck into the wall, a kid no older than 13 was trying to pry it out. I stared at him for a moment, and he stared at me, before he took out a knife from his pocket. The hallway was too small for my rifle to be of any use, so I had to try and fight him hand-to-hand. He swung the knife at me, making a small cut just below my cheek, he intended to kill me. He was fast, but untrained, I managed to catch his arm and shove the knife into his chest. He fell to the ground, yelping in pain as he writhed on the floor, it was him or me. The knife was going to kill him slowly, I backed up as far as I could and aimed my rifle as his head. I watched his lips as he stared at me, before firing a shot to end his misery." John took a swig from the bottle, moving his gaze back to McCree. "Do you want to know what his last words were? Mama. I don't remember much of the mission after that, I remember getting psych evals when I got back to base, kind of like right now." John grimly joked, sliding the bottle back to McCree. The cowboy picked up his glass, leaving the bottle on the table as he made his way to the door.

"You can keep that." He joked, pressing the panel next to the door. "Just remember John, killing is part of this line of work, it's why you do it that matters." McCree waved, shutting the door behind him. John slowly stood up from the chair, grabbing the bottle as he made his way to the bed. Jesse was right, killing was part of the job, he sighed as he took a swig from the bottle. Were his intentions good enough to justify the lives that he takes, to justify the things he's done? What about his squad, what about the innocents? He placed the bottle on the nightstand as he laid down, staring at the familiar tiles that lined the ceiling. Those were questions for tomorrow, questions that he'd try to answer.


	16. Fragments Reformed

John woke to the deafening silence of his room, the only sounds were the occasional bird that chirped by the window. He groaned as he pushed himself out of bed, glancing at the whiskey on the nightstand. He grabbed the bottle and took a swig from it, the rough texture of the beverage shaking him awake. He tossed his shirt into the corner, someone had been kind enough to leave him a change of clothes during the night. He laid his jeans on the bed, leaving the extra set of clothing on the table. He made his way into the bathroom, turning on the shower before he made his way to the mirror. Sighing, he bemused his lack of a razor, he wasn't a fan of having a full beard, he prefered to be able to see his jaw. He returned to the main room, tossing what little clothing he still wore into the corner with his shirt. He glanced down at the clothes he moved to his bed, a small can of shaving cream and a straight razor poked out from the bundle. He chuckled, bringing the items into the bathroom and placing them on the sink. He stepped into the shower, letting the warm water run through his hair and down his chest. The warmth was a welcome sensation to the scars on his body, he could faintly feel the water in his right hand. He groaned as he stretched his back, it had been too long since he'd done anything physical. The past couple of days were all psych evaluations and drinking, not that he was complaining. He stepped out of the shower, quickly drying himself off with a towel before wrapping it around his neck, he didn't want to cover his body with the hair from his beard. He covered his jaw in shaving cream, pulling the skin as he raised the razor to his face. He slowly pulled the razor against the grain of his hair, cutting off a large amount of the hair to leave a small trace of stubble behind. Within a few minutes a large pile of hair had formed around his feet. He laughed as he examined his work in the mirror, he felt much more like himself like this, a beard didn't suit him. He returned to the main room, slipping into his clothes for the day; a gray overwatch t-shirt, his pair of khaki jeans, and some plain white socks. He craned his neck, letting it emit a satisfying crack, before he laid prone on the floor. He might as well get what little exercise he could while he was in here. He never started counting, preferring to stop when he couldn't go any further, the numbers made it seem too much like a job to him. He had been going for some time when he heard a knock at the door, Lena blinked inside with a wave. She glanced around the room, before looking down to find John hard at work, giggling at the sight.

"Good morning, luv! Glad to see you found the gift I left you." Lena spoke, sitting on the bed as she watched John.

"Thanks, I feel a lot cleaner now." John grunted between reps, his gaze never leaving the floor. He heard a laugh from Lena, accompanied by the sound of her blinking, his back suddenly felt much heavier.

"Come on, put some effort into it!" Lena laughed, she was sitting cross-legged on John's back, giggling as he struggled to push himself back into the air. He emitted some cross between a laugh and a groan, prompting another giggle from Lena. He slowly raised and lowered himself, his pace had slowed, but he was still able to keep going. "Atta' boy!" Lena chimed, quietly humming to herself as she was bounced up and down by John's reps. "Jesse was telling me how you know some CQC, real useful stuff, it's what you used on the guards during that ordeal." Lena didn't really know what to call John's time with Talon, preferring just to forget it happened.

"Yeah." Grunted John, his sweat dripping down onto the floor.

"So, think you could beat me in a fight?" Lena laughed, happily swaying back and forth as John continued his reps.

"Is that a challenge, Oxton?"

"Maybe."

"I suppose I could show you a thing or two, after all, I am your CO." John sighed as he lowered himself to the ground, slightly turning his back to force Lena off. He stretched his arms as he rose to his feet, throwing his gray shirt to the corner.

"Do I have to take my shirt off too, luv?" Lena laughed, as she threw her jacket over to the opposite corner; she wore her usual orange pants, white sneakers, but with a white tank top underneath the jacket. John let out a chuckle, eyeing his opponent up and down.

"I won't complain." He smirked, walking towards Lena slowly. "You ready?" He questioned, bending his knees slightly, Lena nodded, smiling at him. He let her make the first move, she went for a quick punch to the gut, not an unexpected first strike. John grabbed her hand with both of his, securing it with his right as he kept his left available for her next strike. Lena rolled forward, attempting to kick John with her left legs, bending her knee to give it the force she needed. John stopped her leg with his left hand, using his grip on her right arm to flip her over, twisting it to keep her in place. He turned as he placed his right knee on her back, keeping her pinned to the ground. Lena squirmed, trying to break free, but John kept his hold on her tight. "Give up, Oxton?" John grunted, attempting to hold the firecracker that was Lena in place. She eventually slowed, letting out a sigh.

"Yeah, I give. You've got some moves, luv!" She laughed, rolling over on the ground. John dropped on top of her, placing his arms next to both sides of her head, lowering his head to be inches from hers.

"I have a view other moves I could show you…" He whispered, leaning in closer to Lena. She blushed as he pushed his lips against hers, letting out a small moan at his display of dominance. She moved her hands up to remove her goggles as John pushed himself away, "No, leave them on." John whispered, pulling Lena to her feet.

"Aye, aye!" She giggled, planting her lips onto his as the rolled onto the bed.

Mercy knocked at the door to John's room, unsure if he would be awake at this hour. "John, are you awake?" Mercy shouted, listening for any response from the other side of the door. She heard what sounded like whispering, before John eventually responded.

"Yeah, give me like 30 minutes!" Mercy chuckled, she had an idea of what was going on, hearing the faint sound of Lena's blinking from behind the door, she'd let them have some privacy.

John sighed as he stood up from the bed, drinking a swig from the bottle of whiskey before offering it to Lena, she was still underneath the covers. She shook her head, refusing the beverage, before John took another swig. He retrieved his shirt and Lena's jacket from the corner of the room, slipping back into his usual attire. Lena had closed her eyes, turning away from John, her chest slowly rising and falling as she slept. John let out a quiet chuckle, placing her jacket on the chair before sitting in the opposite one. He propped his feet up on the table, just watching Lena as she slept, a smile crossed his face. A knock at the door brought his attention away from her, Lena stirred slightly as John quietly opened the door. He silently pointed Lena out to Mercy, trying to silently communicate that they should have this evaluation somewhere else. Mercy nodded, leading John down the hallways and towards the med bay, he plopped down on a wheeled stool, Mercy gracefully sat in a desk chair, he was surprised she didn't have an office by now.

"30 minutes, huh?" Mercy chuckled as John sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, it had been well over the time he told her. "That was at least an hour, John." She smiled as he averted his gaze, his face had been flooded with redness. "Glad to see she's been a positive influence." Mercy chuckled, watching John let out a sigh before he finally resumed eye contact, nodding at her.

"She's the best, I'd likely still be with Talon if she hadn't been there. She brings out something in me, I don't really know how to describe it." John spoke, letting out a small chuckle at his inability to describe Lena's influence.

"I see. Was the talk with McCree helpful?" She asked, writing something down on her clipboard.

"Absolutely." John nodded, "He gave me some solid advice. 'Killing is part of this line of work, it's why you did it that matters'." He attempted to do an impression of McCree's southern drawl, earning a laugh from Mercy. "I don't like the killing, I don't even feel it anymore, but he's right. I'll likely kill a lot more people during my time here, but as long as I'm doing it for the right reasons, I think I can live with it." John flashed a half-hearted smile, it was a bittersweet moment of realization; he was a killer, but not because he wanted to be, because he had to be. "The only thing that I can't rationalize is what I did in Afghanistan. I was able to write off the Omnics as a tragic accident, but what do I tell myself about my squad?" John sighed, looking up at Mercy.

"You tell yourself the truth. You made a horrible mistake, and did something terrible, and you're doing everything you can to make up for it. You're a good man, John, we all make mistakes, we're only human. I'm not going to tell you that what you did was even remotely defensible, but eventually you'll be able to come to terms with what you did, you'll be able to atone for it." Mercy spoke, her blue eyes focused on John. He had tried to atone for what he did in Afghanistan, even if he fooled himself into thinking it was just the Omnics. He rejoined Overwatch to do the right thing, to make the world a better place, just like he did the first time. He did some terrible things in his past, but most of the original members of Overwatch did as well, it was what they did to correct those mistakes that defined who they were.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, doc." John chuckled, "Just gotta keep moving forward."

"I'm glad you feel that way, you've come a long way in the past few days. We won't tell anyone what happened, other than the few that already know, you'll be able to keep your position as Strike-Commander." John's eyes widened as she spoke, was he being let free?

"Are you sure that's a good idea, am I really fit to still be-" Mercy cut him off.

"You are, I truly believe that. You're free to go John, welcome back." She smiled, John pulled her into a quick hug as they both stood up, she returned the gesture. He let out a sigh of relief as he made his way out of the med bay, hoping that Lena was still in his cell.


	17. Homecoming

John entered the cell, Lena was still asleep in the bed. He chuckled as he made his way over to her, gently shaking her awake. She groaned as her eyes slowly opened, a smile on her face. John helped her slip back into her jacket, he guided her limp arms through the sleeves, letting the jacket gently rest on her shoulders. He slipped into his gray jacket, choosing not to zip the material shut. In a way, he wanted the jacket to symbolize how he felt about the future, for the first time in felt like he had the world at his fingertips. He sighed, hosting Lena onto his back, her arms gently cradled around his neck. He placed his arms under her legs, supporting her weight as she pulled herself closer to his neck, softly groaning as she closed her eyes again. He smiled, tapping the panel by the door to open it, glancing back at the dim room as the door slowly shut. He slowly walked down the hall, not wanting to wake Lena from her sleep, placing a cigarette into his mouth while still using his right hand to support her. He ignited the end with a flick of his lighter, taking a long drag of the smoky flavor, it felt good. He made his way out of the hall, stepping out into the sleepy pathways that connected the buildings of Gibraltar, the last streaks of sunlight could be seen fading over the horizon. John passed by the firing range, the only one left at this hour was Fareeha, he hadn't spoken to her much since the events in Cairo. He nodded as he passed, his soft smile illuminated by the ember of his cigarette, she returned the gesture before returning to her duties. He continued his journey, passing through the mess hall, McCree sat with Mercy at a table, flashing a smile as he watched his friends leave. They were almost back to their rooms, all that was left was the long walk down their hall. John left a trail of smoke behind them as he walked, the fog slowly rising to the ceiling before dissipating. He tapped in the code for Lena's room, 5362, it spelled out her name on a number pad, they learned a lot about each other during their break in London. He sighed as he carried her into the room, switching on a lamp as he entered. The room was mostly the same from when he first joined, the Union Jack still hung on the wall, the models of planes were still scattered around, she even still had a small plush bear on her bed. John kept his right arm underneath her leg as he pulled the covers with his left, turning as he slowly lowered her off his back and onto the bed. She softly groaned as she fell onto the bed, curling up tightly as John pulled the covers over her. He removed her goggles from her neck, placing them onto the nightstand, before leaning down and kissing her forehead. He made his was back out of the room, flipping the lamp back off as he walked by, The door shut behind him, leaving him alone in the empty hallway, he let out a deep exhale of smoke, watching it rise to the ceiling. He wasn't going back to his old room, not yet, he wanted to have some time alone. He hadn't walked through the base in a long time, not since he first became Strike-Commander, it was time for another walk through.

He sighed, making his way back towards the mess hall, wondering how much had changed since he was last here. He stood in the large room, there were more tables than he remembered, several more cooking stations had been constructed, likely to feed the larger number of soldiers. He glanced towards the door to the barracks, deciding that it wasn't the time to disturb the soldiers within, they'd want to get some rest. He passed through the door to the shuttle bay, letting the smoke from his cigarette float away into the darkness. The occasional light revealed any nearby shuttles, there were certainly more than when he first joined, though he hoped they still had the bars. He chuckled, making his way back outside, Fareeha had left the firing range, a few rifles sat in the various booths, ready for the next day of training. John continued down the path, the lights of the base had been fully repaired, Gibraltar was certainly a sight to behold. Several lights blinked from the windows of the server room, John never wanted to set foot in there, the R&D buildings were housed behind the servers. His pace slowed as he made his way past the landing pad, small lights lined the edges, he had spent his share of time there. He stopped, glancing over at the lighthouse just off the coast, its light spun around in the darkness, a shining beacon for anyone nearby. He made his way over to the cliff, a small railing had been erected to keep anyone from falling off. John chuckled, hopping over the railing before sitting down on the other side, letting his legs dangle off the cliff. He removed the cigarette pack from his pocket, placing it on the ground beside him, before reaching for his lighter and placing it down as well. He leaned his back against the railing, watching the few ships that coasted by, the only sources of lighting being the embers of his cigarette or the occasional rotation of the lighthouse. He took another long drag of the cigarette, flicking the shortened butt down to the rocks below, igniting a fresh one he had grabbed earlier. The sounds of the crashing waves permeated throughout the base, not a single soul was out and about, none except him. He let out a deep sigh, turning his gaze towards the stars above, his thin trail of smoke slowly swaying back and forth as the embers burned. He wondered what was out there, amongst the billions of dots in the sky, very few people had ever even left Earth, let alone the solar system. The grand scale of the cosmos put everything into perspective, John slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke as he slowly panned his gaze through the various constellations. He had come to terms with who he was, he didn't have to hide it anymore, thanks to his family. He was a killer, but that wasn't what defined him, his actions made him who he was. He was trying to do the right thing, maybe it was for the wrong reasons, he doubted that protecting Lena was all there was to it, but the right thing nonetheless. He had tried to hide from his past, to try and run from the horrible reality of the mistakes he's made, but he had to face the truth at some point. No one was perfect, and no one ever will be, but that wasn't the point, mistakes happen so that we can learn from them. If you never make mistakes, it meant that you never failed, and if you never failed, it means that you never pushed yourself. He had plenty of failures, and had made plenty of mistakes, but all he could do was learn from them, to better himself from what he once was. He flicked the cigarette off the cliff, lighting a new one before placing the pack and lighting back into his jacket. He slowly pushed himself to his feet, hopping over the railing before leaning his arms onto it.

Mercy was right, he was a good man, he made some mistakes but he was trying to fix them, to leave the world better than he found it. Was that all there was to it, was that what it meant to be a hero? He briefly considered that Talon's approach was correct, that force was the only way to truly save this world, but they were wrong. What kind of life is one without freedom, one without the ability to learn and develop? Forcing improvements onto society was no better than enslaving it, people had the right to choose, even if they wanted to make the wrong one. He let out another sigh, pushing himself off the railing as he made his way back to the residences for heroes. He passed down the dim pathways, past the firing range and through the mess hall, beginning the long trek down the hall to his room. He passed by Lena's room, briefly smiling as he glanced at it, he considered spending the night with her. He chuckled, deciding that it would be better to let her get some rest, before he reached the panel for his room. The small plaque sprung to life as he reached for the panel, it read one word, Commander. John smiled as he entered the code to his room, 4663, before the door opened to reveal his dark room. The furniture was still the same as before, the standard Overwatch designs were still present, no one had used this room in his absence. He tossed his jacket onto the couch, using the embers of his cigarette to light his way to the bed. He flopped down, laying on top of the covers, taking a few more drags of the cigarette. He felt a strange feeling in his chest, not a pain, but something else. He thought about what sensation meant, extinguishing the cigarette with his prosthetic hand, the feeling was warm. He smiled as he dropped the cigarette into a nearby trash bin, he knew what the sensation was, it was the feeling of coming home.

Hey guys,

It's been a bit since I did a little update like this, sorry it's taken so long. I'm on vacation with my family for Thanksgiving, so I'm not using my usual writing set up that I had for the first story, I've actually been typing all of this story on my chromebook. I wanted to thanks everyone who's been reading so far, the support from you guys has been outstanding. I've been going through some personal stuff lately, which is why I didn't know if I'd be writing on this tip, but in a weird way I think it helps my writing. This chapter felt a lot more personal to me, and using no dialogue wasn't as much of a choice as opposed to it just sort of wrote itself that way. It's hard to explain, but I've been feeling a lot of things that are hard to explain. I'm going to keep updating the story, it will likely be the same length as the first one (24 Chapters) since I think that's a fair length for the story. I might do a third story with John, but I'm not really sure yet, I enjoy writing him as a character though. I hope you guys have enjoyed everything so far, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart, writing these stories has been a ton of fun.

\- Alerestus


	18. Venture Forth

John shivered as he awoke, he had foolishly chosen to fall asleep on top of the covers. He groaned, slowly pushing himself from the mattress before glancing to the window. It was still dark, though he didn't know how late, or early, it might be. He sighed as he slipped the covers over him, he wasn't nearly as warm as he'd like to be, but an idea crossed his mind. He threw his jacket over his shoulder and made his way back into the hall, yawning as he made his way through the dark corridor. He stopped outside Lena's door, briefly considering going back to his own room, before he entered the code and stepped inside. Lena was still asleep in her bed, the faint blue glow of her accelerator was the only source of light, but it was all John needed. He threw his jacket somewhere into the darkness, praying it wouldn't knock something over, as he made his way towards the bed. The head of the bed was pressed against the wall, but two small openings stood on either side of the frame, allowing him passage past Lena without crawling over her. He slipped under the covers, hearing a small groan come from her as he laid down onto the bed, it was certainly much warmer than his own. He wriggled one arm beneath Lena, pulling her close to him, hearing her hum quietly as he embraced her. It felt good, not just because of the obvious warmth he could steal from her, but because everything felt at peace. Any worries he had about the mission, about himself, just faded away into the moment, it was a simple sensation, but one that he thoroughly enjoyed. He sighed as he nuzzled his faze into her neck, hoping to get more sleep in here than he could in his room. He shut his eyes, letting the quiet hum of Lena's accelerator lull him to sleep, it was good to be home.

John sat up in the bed, stretching his arms to the sky as he let out a long yawn, sunlight poured in from the window. He glanced over to the bathroom, the sound of the shower could faintly be heard through the ajar door, he smirked as he hopped out of the bed. He slipped out of his clothes, tossing them to the side, as he made his way into the bathroom, Lena hadn't noticed him yet. He slowly walked towards the shower, careful not to make a sound, before sliding the door open. Lena eyes were wide with shock, her face became red as she stared at John in the doorway. He chuckled, stepping inside the shower, the warm water matting down his hair, before pulling Lena into a kiss. She let out a soft moan as they embraced, letting the water run over both of them as their lips melted together. They slowly parted from one another, staring into each other's eyes, a smile crossed John's face. "Good morning, beautiful." He whispered, running his hand through Lena's wet hair, "Sleep well?" He laughed, reaching behind her to grab the shampoo. Lena giggled, nodding as she pulled John into a hug, preferring to just enjoy the moment of peace they have together.

John slipped his arms back into his jacket, he had grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans from his room after his shower with Lena, her clothes weren't his style. His shirt bore the logo of a racing team, Ijiek, the yellow and black logo was printed across the center diagonally. He slipped his pistol into the holster on his waist, he was keeping the gift from Talon, it was a pretty handy weapon. He glanced over to Lena, she had slipped into her usual attire, the wear on the brown flight jacket had become increasingly apparent over time, though he doubted she'd ever replace it. He wrapped his arm around her, ruffling her spiky hair as they left the room, "Ready to get back to it?" John laughed, his demeanor had shifted dramatically from when he returned to the base. His sarcasm had become a bit drier, his mentality a bit more cynical, but he was mostly the same man he was before, just a little more weathered.

"Of course, luv! Heroes never get to take vacations!" Lena giggled, happy to have him back in full form, she hated to see what he became during his short time with Talon. The pair made their way towards the mess hall, many of the tables were filled with grunts, just how John remembered it back in the golden age of Overwatch. Many of the soldiers quickly saluted him, he laughed as he made his way towards a free table, some food had been left out on trays at every one, it was easier to have the food at the tables than to have everyone line up. John sat at the table with Lena at his side, she leaned her head onto his shoulder as she let out a small yawn. John began to shovel food onto his plate, hoping that the quality of the cooking improved since he was last here. He glanced up, noticing McCree making his way towards the table, his spurs jingling slightly as he sat down across from the couple. John nodded as he began to eat, it had been too long since he sat down and had a real meal. Lena laughed as she placed food onto her own plate, McCree took a sip of his beverage before breaking the silence.

"Just got done talking with Winston, we're heading back to Paris. Talon's planning something big, and we're gonna stop it." McCree spoke, smirking as he finished the statement, he was confident that they could get the job done. John sighed, he wasn't looking forward to fighting Widowmaker again, but it had to be done. They had never revealed much of their plan to him, they likely knew that his allegiance to them was never concrete, though he did appreciate their platitudes when he first joined. "We don't have a whole lot of intel on it, but we've got a few leads we can follow up on." McCree chuckled, taking another swig of his drink. John let out a sigh, standing up from the table as he placed a cigarette in his mouth.

"No time like the present." He laughed, igniting the cigarette as he made his way out of the mess hall. He placed his hands in his pockets, making his way towards the landing pad at the edge of the base. He walked by the firing range, the familiar sounds of gunfire didn't phase him, past the server room where the clangs from the R&D room could be heard, down the small path that wound through the base. He leaned on the railing at the cliff, taking a long drag of the cigarette as he blew the smoke into the air, watching the ships pass by. Something was different, every mission felt like it could your last, but something was wrong with this one. He took another drag of the cigarette, he had never been afraid of death in his youth, but he felt different now. He used to think he was invincible, that nothing would ever be able to touch him, that death was some distant force that would never catch him. Then he met a girl, he met Lena, and he wanted to live for the first time. Not just going through the motions, letting fate slowly guide him through life, he wanted to truly live, he wanted to feel alive. That was the turning point, for the first time he felt something, he felt the fear of death, the fear of pain, the fear of loss. He took one final drag of the cigarette, flicking it off the edge of the cliff. "Oh well, whatever happens, happens." He sighed, placing his hands back into his pockets as he walked towards the shuttle on the landing pad. Lena and McCree both stood on the loading ramp, McCree was smoking a cigar with a smile, Lena gave him a thumbs up as he walked towards them. John smiled, there wasn't anyone else on the planet he'd rather jump into the jaws of hell with. They had little intel, no backup, and only a handful of leads, but they'd make it work, they always did. He sat down on the couch, propping his feet up on the table as Lena made her way to the cockpit. McCree sat down next to him, laughing as they lifted off into the air. John reached into his pocket, withdrawing the picture of the reformed Overwatch team, he let out a deep sigh as he placed the photograph on the table. His thoughts went back to his past, to the way things were before Overwatch, before Lena. He was a shit soldier when he was younger, always getting in over his head, but he did what he could. He did some terrible things in Afghanistan, pieces of his past that he'd carry with him forever, but he could use them as motivation, to drive himself to be better. Then he met Lena, he fought common criminals in London while he pretended to be a normal guy, they even partnered up for a bit. Talon showed up, they caused some trouble in the city, and then they blew up his home. He rejoined Overwatch, recruiting almost everyone in the photograph, losing an arm in the process, then came Cairo. They all knew the risks of that mission, but the pain of losing his comrades still stung somewhere deep within him, it almost didn't seem real when he learned that they didn't make it. He felt a lot of the same feelings about Cairo now, the same feeling of dread about the mission, that same fear of death that he felt the first time. He placed another cigarette in his mouth, McCree held out his lighter to ignite it, John leaned it to allow the embers to burn. He smiled, turning his gaze out the window as the flew, one way or another, they were going to finish this.


	19. Best Laid Plans

The shuttle soared through the skies of France, the smaller towns that littered the country were but small dots from the windows. Overwatch had managed to procure a safehouse within Paris, they'd be able to dock the shuttle there, one of the benefits of no longer working in the shadows. The shuttle slowed as Lena weaved it through the spires of the city, she was one of the best pilots in the world before the Slipstream Incident, and that hadn't changed since, even the bulkier craft handled like a fighter in her capable hands. John sighed as the shuttle pulled into the hangar, the light of the paris skyline was replaced by the dim lighting inside the hangar. He tapped the button to release the bay door, shaking McCree awake as Lena exited the cockpit, looking quite proud of her flying skills. John chuckled as McCree groggily stood up, letting out a long yawn as he made his way down the ramp. "So, where to first?" John questioned, withdrawing a cigarette from his pocket as they made their way out of the hangar.

"Got a lead on what Talon could be planning, there's a small lab hidden within an alley not far from here." McCree replied, cracking his neck as they made their way to the stairwell. The trio entered a small room at the top of the stairs, a pair of tinted windows let only a small amount of light inside. A couple of beds were placed along one wall, a foot locker at the base of each one, safehouses were never known for their comfort. John chuckled as he lit his cigarette, the small flame illuminating his face as he made his way towards the door. He placed his hands into his pockets, bumping his elbow into the button to open the door, the cold winter air flowed inside. He shivered as he exited the safehouse, Lena and McCree close behind him, the latter pulled a small device from his pocket. "This should take us right to the lab." McCree spoke, a small map projected itself from the device, they were only a few blocks away from Talon's secret prize. The trio made their way down the street, the occasional pedestrian would turn and look at them, most people hadn't gotten used to Overwatch being back yet, it would take some time. John smiled at the odd admirer, he didn't want people to think that Overwatch was full of moody sociopaths. They turned the corner, the map McCree held said that this was the spot, a lone alleyway stood before them. The alleyway looked plain enough, several posters lined the stone walls along with a fair amount of graffiti, none of it was in good taste. "Says it's right here." McCree spoke, slipping the device back into his pocket as he searched for the entrance. John did the same, peeling back posters for any sign of a hidden switch.

"Oi, how about this?" Lena shouted, she was standing by a small box that had been left in the alleyway. She gave it a kick, the stone wall began to rumble, revealing a small door hidden inside it.

"They really do like secret bases." John chuckled, tossing his cigarette to the ground, extinguishing it underneath his foot. He slipped his pistol out of it's holster as he made his way into the dim passage, LEDs were placed several feet apart in the ceiling, their flickering bulbs granting no comfort to him. He motioned for McCree and Lena to follow, he'd take point while McCree watched their backs, never hurt to be safe when dealing with Talon. They made their way down the hall, their footsteps the only sounds in the eerie hideout, the hallway branched in two separate directions ahead. "McCree, stay here and hold this hallway, we don't want anyone sneaking up on us. I'll head left, Lena take the right." John commanded, waving to his comrades as he faded into the darkened corridor. He could see a small window ahead, it appeared to look into some kind of office. John crouched low, crawling past the window, before leaning against the wall to peer inside. Two men stood inside, one was a Talon soldier, the other appeared to be some sort of scientist. John had seen this man before, it was the same scientist who he was sent to retrieve during his short stay with Talon. He could hear their muffled conversation through the window, they were apparently ahead of schedule. The soldier began to make his way towards the door, John pushed himself against the wall as it opened, hoping the soldier wouldn't notice him. The man stretched as he exited the room, the door shutting behind him, before he began to walk down the opposite end of the hall. John quickly walked past the door, pulling the guard into a choke hold before firing a shot into his neck. He laid the body on the ground, turning his attention back to the office, that scientist had intel he could use. John entered the room, the scientist yelped in surprise as he scrambled towards the wall, pressing his back against it. "Don't worry," John chuckled, placing his pistol back in its holster, "I'm not here to kill you." The man visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relieve as he made his way back to his desk.

"What do you want, then?" The man shakily spoke, attempting to maintain his composure.

"Some information. What is Talon planning to do here?"

"It's… complicated…" The man spoke, averting his eyes from John's gaze.

"Well then." John sighed, taking his pistol back out of the holster and aiming at the man, "I guess I'll find someone who can simplify it." The man threw his hands into the air, pleading with John for his life.

"It's a bioweapon, they want to use it to help control the populace! Paris is just the testing ground, that's all I know, I swear!" The man cried out, trembling as John smirked.

"There we go." He chimed, "We have a man stationed down by the entrance, I'd head that way if you want to live." John pointed down the hall he came from, making his way to the desk as the scientist sprinted towards the entrance of the hideout. "A bioweapon, huh?" John sighed, igniting a cigarette in his mouth, "Why can't these things ever be simple?" Skimming through the papers on the desk, he gleamed a few pieces of intel from the reports. Something about the bioweapon needed to be deployed in a specific location, preferably up high, and there were more samples in this base. "Hopefully Lena's having more fun than I am." He stepped over the corpse of the guard, making his way further into the facility. There were several more offices littered throughout the hallway, though they seemed to be unoccupied. The occasional guard could be seen inside, but John didn't want to waste any more time. He snuck his way further down the hall, a dim light could be seen up ahead. He stepped into the room, it was quite bright compared to the dark halls of the base. He crouched down behind a desk, peering over it to examine the room. Several guards were stationed around the room, how they didn't see him enter was a mystery. They stood by canisters filled with some sort of purple fluid, they were being loaded into crates that were labeled with various countries. "Lena, I'm in some sort of loading bay, you nearby?" John whispered, placing his finger to his ear to enable communications.

"Yeah, luv, look up!" John turned his eyes to the ceiling, a small metal pathway lined it, several lights could be seen hanging from it. Lena was crouched on top of the pathway, giving John a two-fingered salute as he nodded at her.

"Yes ma'am, we're finishing loading up the cargo now. Understood, we'll rendezvous with you there when we've finished." A soldier spoke, having a conversation with some unseen comrade, though John could hazard a guess as to who it was.

"I'll start us off, you drop down and deal with whoever I don't." John chuckled, tightening his grip on the pistol. He quickly peaked up from behind the desk, firing a shot into the skull of the closest guard, the others rapidly turned their attention towards him and began firing. John crouched as low as he could, looking for an opportunity to change cover, this desk wasn't made to withstand a firing squad. He heard their ranks begin to panic as Lena began her attack, this was his chance. John hopped over the desk, a crate of the fluid was nearby for him to use as cover. Shots began to impact the crate, shattering several of the containers.

"Don't hit the samples!" A guard shouted, admonishing his teammates. John cursed under his breath as he peaked around the crate, firing off shots whenever the guards' attention was on Lena. She had been rapidly blinking around the room, but her accelerator had limits, and she was soon forced into cover. John quickly peered around the crate, there were only four guards left. They seemed more focused on Lena than him, three guards moved towards the cover she used as a single one stood further back to provide cover. John sprinted from behind the crate, grabbing the sole guard as a meat shield, before firing at the trio near Lena. He managed to down one before they returned fire, thankfully Talon soldiers were always a bit thicker than Overwatch. Lena took the opportunity to resume the attack, her accelerator fully recharged, dealing with the two guards that had just cornered her. John dropped the guard he held, several shots could be seen in his chest, he crouched down beside him, pulling him up by his collar.

"Where are they deploying it?" John spoke, withdrawing the cigarette from his mouth with his left hand. The guard stared back at him, spitting blood onto John's cheek. He sighed as he wiped his left sleeve to his face, glaring at the guard. He quickly jammed his cigarette into the guard's eye, the man let out a howl as the embers seared his vision. "I'll ask again. Where?" John pulled the cigarette away, placing it back in his mouth.

"The Eiffel Tower!" The man shrieked, clutching his eye in pain. John nodded as he dropped the man to the ground, quickly firing a shot into his head before he holstered his pistol again. He glanced up at Lena, who had been examining the containers during John's interrogation.

"Plant some pulse bombs, we don't want any of this making it out." John spoke, placing his hands back into his pockets. Lena nodded, quickly blinking around the room as she placed a bomb on each crate. John had already begun his way back down the hallway, he didn't know how long the fuse on her bombs were, and he wasn't eager to find out. Lena quickly blinked past him, stopping at the end of the hall, her bright smile illuminated by the faint blue light of her accelerator. The facility shook as the bombs went off, anything that was in the bay would be ashes now. John chuckled as he walked past Lena, spotting McCree leaning against the wall, a lit cigar in his mouth, the scientist from before was crouched beside him.

"Bought' time you got back, I didn't get to have much fun on guard duty!" McCree laughed, a couple of Talon corpses could be seen towards the entrance of the facility. "Got the intel?" He looked at John, who nodded at him.

"Eiffel Tower, pretty cliche place to set off your weapon, but at least it's close. Jesse, drop this guy off at the safehouse, then bring the shuttle over to the tower, I have a feeling we'll need it." John spoke, eyeing the scientist crouched on the ground. McCree nodded, hoisting the man to his feet as he made his way out of the facility. "You and I will head there on foot, hopefully we'll be able to stop them." John nervously chuckled, following after McCree, Lena nodded, blinking out of the facility alongside them.


	20. Farewell, My Friends

John and Lena sprinted through the streets of Paris, though the civilians going about their daily lives weren't aware, a terrible tragedy was about to befall the city. The density of pedestrians noticeably declined as they made their way close to the Eiffel Tower, Talon had likely already begun their assault. "Why do they always have to be so dramatic?" John groaned, glancing over at Lena, who let out a small giggle. John turned the corner, quickly pressing himself against a nearby car as he peered at the base of the tower. Talon had set up makeshift fortifications around the tower, they weren't impenetrable, but they were running out of time. "We don't have time to wait on Jesse, we gotta move quick." John whispered, surveying the fortifications for any weaknesses. "There." John pointed to a small gap between a pair of walls, in their haste Talon had forgotten to scan for any exposures like that. "Think you can distract them while I move in?" He glanced to Lena, who nodded, it seemed like there was nothing she wouldn't agree to do. John withdrew his pistol, motioning for Lena to start her distraction, before preparing to sprint across the field. Lena blinked to the front of the fortifications, several guards stared at her for a moment, attempting to register what was happening. She yelled something witty, though John couldn't hear it over the sound of gunfire, they hadn't noticed him yet. He slid to the gap of the fortifications, quickly glancing around to make sure that he wasn't about to be shot, he'd already died once. Squeezing through the gap, he peered around the corner, most of the guards were placed at the front, focusing their attention on Lena, a few stragglers were meandering around the base. The elevators at the bottom of the tower were unguarded, they seemed too focused on the distraction to care about guarding their flank. John briefly considered leaving Lena, she'd be able to survive on her own while he went to deal with the weapon at the top of the tower. He quickly shook the thought out of his head, Lena wouldn't leave him behind, before he crouched low. The guards hadn't noticed him yet, he'd be able to divert their attention between him and Lena, hopefully it would go as well as it did in the lab. He snuck his way behind a few crates, a guard sat on top, apparently he was too busy to participate in the battle. John pulled the guard over the crate, firing a shot into his head before dropping the body to the ground. He glanced down at the dead guard, a pair of grenades were hanging from his body armor, John plucked one into his hand. "Well, that's lucky." John chuckled, removing the pin from the grenade before tossing it at a group of guards at the front of the base. Their bodies flew over the fortifications, landing in a mangled heap in the field below, Talon loved their explosives. The few guards that remained turned towards John, opening fire on him as he crouched low behind the crate, hopefully Lena would be able to advance now.

"It's almost ready, just hold them off for a couple more minutes." A cold voice spoke from the communicator on the dead guard. John sighed, he knew they were pressed for time, but he figured they'd have more than this. He glanced towards the elevators, there wasn't much cover between him and the cabin, though it wasn't too far. He had given Lena as much help as he could, but he couldn't afford to wait for her to clean up the scraps, he prepared to sprint towards the elevators, silently cursing at his idiotic plan. He shot off across the base, he'd never wished to have Lena's powers more than now, the shots from the Talon guards peppered the ground around him. A shot hit his side, causing him to fall to the ground, his momentum sliding him into the elevator cabin. He clutched the wound with his left hand, slamming his right into the button on the wall, the door slowly shut as he began to ascend. By some miracle they hadn't managed to kill him, but he wasn't in the best shape to be on a solo mission. He slowly pushed himself from the ground, leaning against the wall as he watched the guards down below. Lena had breached the fortifications, and guards were too focused on him to notice her cleaning them up. John let out a chuckle as he placed a cigarette in his mouth, he didn't want to have to do this alone, but time wasn't on his side. He flicked his lighter to the end of the cigarette, igniting it as he inhaled deeply, the smoke would dull the pain somewhat. He placed a fresh magazine in his pistol, discarding the original to the ground, he wasn't liking his odds of success. If he was lucky, there were only a couple of guards, and that wasn't counting Widowmaker, she'd want to oversee this personally. He glanced down at the base of the tower as he reached the top, he noticed Lena blinking towards the second cabin, likely noticing that John had gone ahead. He sighed as the elevator slowed to a stop, taking a long drag of his cigarette before the doors slowly opened. To his surprise, he wasn't immediately shot when the doors opened, maybe he was lucky. There wasn't anyone up here, just a single device with one of the containers of fluid inside it, he slowly made his way towards it, surveying the small walkway. He stared at the device, looking for a way to disable it, tech was never his speciality, before his attention was drawn behind him. "Quite a wonderful invention, isn't it? No way to disable it without an access code, and it will spread the weapon across the entire city, Talon's ambition knows no bounds." John cursed as he turned around, Widowmaker stood with her rifle pointed right at him, he weakly smiled as his gaze met hers.

"You wouldn't believe me if I said I was here to help, would you?" John joked, making sure he stood between Widowmaker and the device, before slowly sliding his right hand behind him to tamper with the machine. If he couldn't disable it, he'd have to try something a little more forceful, but he needed to buy time. Widowmaker let out something resembling a chuckle, motioning towards the pistol in John's left hand, attempting to get him to drop it. "Do I have to give this back? I've grown rather attached to it." John dryly spoke, hoping that she hadn't noticed his plan, before he resumed pulling on the container with his right hand.

"It's Talon property, you could've been too, it would've been a wonderful partnership. But instead, you chose to play the hero, I thought we went over this?" Widowmaker dryly spoke, she had always been one to gloat when she had the upper hand. John felt the container give way as he pulled, slowly managing to pry it from the mounting inside the device, their craftsmanship was sloppy to say the least. "It's been a pleasure, _Commander_." Widowmaker spat, slowly closing her finger around the trigger of her rifle, the container pulled from the device as John tightened his finger around the trigger of his own weapon, hoping he'd be able to take her with him. A flash of blue light blinked to Widowmaker's side as she fired, taking her aim a few centimeters off course, her shot slammed into John's shoulder as his own ripped through her chest. The momentum of the shot pushed John over the railing of the walkway, he quickly gripped onto it with his left hand, his right still clutching the container. He tossed the container over the railing, Lena catching it as she glanced over the edge at him, her eyes filled with worry.

"The mission comes first, Lena." John weakly smiled as he felt his grip slip from the railing, Lena reached down to grab him, to save him from this fate. Their tips of their fingers touched as John fell from the railing, smiling despite the situation he was in. He watched Lena yell out to him, though he couldn't hear it, time itself seemed to slow as he hurtled towards the field below. His thoughts swept through the haze of the past few years, from first meeting Lena in London, and the way they innocently flirted with one another, before Talon had destroyed his home. The flight to Gibraltar, the comfort that Lena gave him as they sat together on the cliff, guiding him through the tragedy of losing his entire life. The various members of Overwatch he went to recruit, and the terrible mission in Route 66 where he lost his arm. The distraction in Australia, the revelation of Talon's plans in Cairo, the loss of the comrades during the battle. Then Paris, trying to track down what Talon was after this time, and the experience of falling part before being put back together. It had been a fun journey, and he wouldn't trade it for the world, the comrades he made, the friends he made, it was all worth it. He lost his home, he lost his arm, he almost lost himself, but in the end he had gained something so much more valuable, family. His eyes gently closed as he continued to fall, it had been one hell of a ride.

John found himself in his childhood home, the tall ceilings of his parents' home were a welcome sight after the experiences he had. He walked through the halls of the house, a smile growing on his face as he recalled the memories of his young life, the time he had spent with his family. He paused, staring at the doorway to the living room, his parents stood inside. They smiled at him, motioning for him to come towards them, his parents had been dead for years. This wasn't right, was he dead? The visages on his parents' faces turned hollow as he began to question the situation, sprinting back towards the front door of the house, slamming it open with his weight. He slowly opened his eyes, he was in a white hospital room, sunlight streamed in from the windows, illuminating the room as he adjusted his eyes. He slowly pushed himself up from the bed, his entire body ached in pain as he glanced around the room. He made his way towards a mirror in the corner of the room, each step was a shot of pain through his nerves, though he continued towards it. He stopped in front of the reflective surface, staring at himself, bandages covered most of his body, though his green eyes contrasted against the sterile white colors he was encased in. He smiled, despite the pain he felt in his entire body, he wasn't dead, not yet. The door to the room opened, Lena quickly glanced around before blinking to his side, supporting him with her shoulder. He began to laugh as she placed him back in the bed, she soon joined in, he continued to laugh despite the pain in his chest. "I'm alive." John spoke, between laughs, turning towards Lena, who leaned in towards him. She pulled him into a hug, nodding as she nuzzled her head against his neck. "What happened?" He questioned as Lena pulled away, her hazel eyes were a welcome reprieve from the afterlife he had found.

"You're one lucky bastard, luv! McCree managed to spot you hanging off the edge of the tower, he positioned the shuttle beneath you to absorb the fall, though metal isn't the softest thing to land on!" Lena laughed, sitting down in a chair near the bed. "Mercy said it'll take some time for you to get back on your feet, I'm pretty sure the only thing letting you walk around earlier was the adrenaline." Her tone had gotten more serious, "Though she doesn't know how long until you can get back in the field." John pointed to his jacket that had been left near the bed, motioning for Lena to grab a cigarette from it. She sighed, gently placing it in his mouth before igniting it. John took a deep drag of the cigarette, the smoke filling his lungs, before he slowly exhaled. It was over, Talon had lost, and somehow despite all the shit that happened, he was alive.


	21. Epilogue

John sat on a bench, smoking a cigarette as he waited, content to just enjoy the moment. His time with Overwatch had been some of the most exciting, and most painful, moments of his life. He was lucky to get any time alone, between his relationship and the amount of paperwork he'd begun to receive as Strike-Commander, it seemed there was no end to his responsibilities. He laid back on the bench, panning his view around the park he sat in, it wasn't a terribly large space, a large fountain sat in the center with various groups of civilians conversing or taking pictures. He let out a sigh, staring into the afternoon sky as he took a drag of the cigarette. The sound of footsteps approaching him broke his trance, he quickly turn to face the source of the noise. A small child stood, sheepishly looking at her feet as her mother stood behind her, pushing her towards John.

"E-excuse me… Are you Commander Hudson?" The girl spoke, her voice quiet at she spoke at the ground in front of her. John chuckled, extinguishing his cigarette in a nearby ashtray, before crouching down to meet the girl's height.

"I am, can I help you with something?" John spoke, smiling as the child visibly calmed down. Her brown eyes stared up at him, she bore a large smile on her face, similar to someone else's.

"Could I get a picture with you?" She cheerily asked, her demeanor a complete reversal of the shy child that had walked up to him. John nodded, motioning for the child to stand next to him, he placed his right hand in her hair and smiled. The child's grin grew larger, her mother chuckled as she raised her phone to take a photo. A blue light blinked near John, Lena appeared next to the child, crouching as she gave her two-fingered salute. The mother quickly took the photo, worried at how long her daughter would be able to stay still. John laughed as he stood back up, ruffling the child's hair before turning to Lena. She was still crouched down, quietly talking with her, before she laughed and pulled her into a hug.

"You know, the world could always use more heroes!" Lena giggled as she let go of the child, waving as she and her mother departed. John chuckled, slipping his hands into his pockets as he began to walk around the park, quickly glancing back at Lena.

"I'll never understand how someone with powers like yours can still manage to be late." John sighed, stopping to allow Lena to catch up to him. She laughed as she blinked to him, hooking her arm around his, bearing her trademark smile. "It's about time." John whispered, giving Lena a quick kiss before they continued through the park. It had been a wild ride, but it was good to finally get some time to properly relax, they had earned that much. The sun began to set as they walked off into the London streets, the world was at peace, and time flowed onwards.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to do a quick little Epilogue to end the story, this has been a fun one to write. I think I made some mistakes in terms of pacing, I felt like the Talon arc was way too short for the impact it would have on the story as a whole, but hindsight is 20/20. I want to thank everyone who's read either of my stories, it's been a ton of fun writing both of them, and I plan to do more in the future. I've been going through some personal stuff towards the end of this story, so it felt good to finally write it an ending that I felt fit properly. I hope John made sense as a character, most of what I wrote for him felt right, but I can never look at my own work in a truly objective sense. I currently don't have any plans to continue this particular story, I think I managed to tell the story I wanted to tell, and continuing past this point would end up with me just making up villains and plot points. I hope you guys enjoyed the story, I certainly enjoyed writing it. Thanks again for reading it!

Alerestus


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